Jan. 30, 2009
Kansas Game Notes in PDF Format 
#11/7 TEXAS A&M (16-3, 4-2) vs. KANSAS (12-6, 1-4)
Game #20
January 31, 2009 • 4:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,989)
at College Station, Texas
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Kansas Leads 7-6
Internet: Live Video and Statistics available on www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
Coming off two-straight road victories against nationally-ranked Big 12 Conference South opponents, the No. 7-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (16-3, 4-2) looks to continue its momentum in league play as the Aggies host Kansas (12-6, 1-4) as part of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 31 at Reed Arena. The A&M men will take on Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. (CT), prior to the nightcap between the A&M women and the Jayhawks at 4 p.m. (CT). The Aggies will see a change in scenery as they face consecutive Big 12 North foes in KU, Iowa State and Nebraska. All three will present just as much of a challenge as their Southern counterparts with strength from top-to-bottom in this year's league race. A&M earned two key road wins at No. 24 Oklahoma State (60-50) on Jan. 24 and No. 16 Texas (68-54) on Jan. 28 to claim back-to-back top 25 victories for the second time this season. The Aggie defense, which held rival UT to a season-low 31.5 percent from the floor in their last outing in Austin, will look to come out with the same aggressive attitude against a KU team which currently ranks fourth and 11th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (39.5) and field goal percentage (45.7) respectively.
GAME PROMOTIONS
Father-daughter groups from around the area have been invited to enjoy the women's game as part of the program's first-ever Father-Daughter Day at Reed Arena. Coach Blair's Kids Court will continue to be held in the new women's basketball practice gym located in the Cox-McFerrin Center For Aggie Basketball one hour prior to tipoff with the Jayhawks. Fans who purchase a men's ticket are invited to stay for the women's game with general admission seating available. Tickets for the doubleheader are available for purchase by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE, online at www.12thmanfoundation.com, or in person at the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Center's Kyle Field or Reed Arena locations.
SCOUTING KANSAS
Kansas will be the second A&M opponent in the last three games to have a bye week from competition. The Jayhawks fell to in-state rival and No. 15 Kansas State (50-59) in their last outing on Jan. 24 at Allen Fieldhouse. They are looking to snap a three-game losing skid since picking up their first Big 12 win of the season against border rival Missouri (75-58) on Jan. 14. KU was predicted to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll ahead of Texas Tech, Colorado and Missouri. Last year, the Jayhawks went over .500 with a 17-16 overall record and lost to Michigan State (58-54) in the third round of the Postseason WNIT. They are led in scoring by junior combination guard/forward Danielle McCray who is averaging 19.1 points per game which ranks 22nd nationally and second only to Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley (23.0 ppg) in the Big 12.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2008-09 Stats)
#51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, So. (5.6 ppg, 3.6 apg)
#3 Takia Starks, G, 5-8, Sr. (15.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Jr. (9.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
#55 Danielle Gant, G/F, 5-11, Sr. (14.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
#12 La Toya Micheaux, C, 6-3, Sr. (3.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg)
KANSAS
No. Name (2008-09 Stats)
#3 Ivana Catic, G, 5-8, Sr. (2.8 ppg, 3.3 apg)
#00 LaChelda Jacobs, G, 5-10, Jr. (8.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
#4 Danielle McCray, G/F, 5-11, Jr. (19.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg)
#24 Nicollette Smith, F, 6-2, So. (7.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
#14 Krysten Boogaard, C, 6-5, So. (10.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Kansas leads 7-6 in the all-time series with Texas A&M. The Aggies have won the last five-straight meetings between the two schools dating back to a 69-63 road victory in Lawrence on Feb. 21, 2004. A&M has won six of the last seven games in the series and are tied 6-6 versus the Jayhawks in Big 12 regular-season play. The Aggies are 2-4 when playing KU on their home turf including a 64-53 (+11) victory on Feb. 3, 2007 and a 62-60 (+2) win on Jan. 15, 2005 in College Station.
KANSAS REWIND
Three players scored in double figures as No. 20 Texas A&M held off Kansas to claim its second Big 12 Conference win of the season, 58-51, on Jan. 26, 2008 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. Takia Starks had a team-high 17 points and six rebounds in the winning cause. The Aggies combated their shooting woes from the floor (32.8 percent) by turning up their defensive pressure in the second half after trailing KU, 30-29, at halftime. Both teams traded leads seven times including three in the final 12 minutes of regulation. Key baskets by Patrice Reado and Morenike Atunrase stretched A&M's lead to four with 10:54 remaining on the clock. Thirty seconds later, a three-pointer by Starks pushed it out to 48-41 and the Aggies never looked back. Atunrase went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe and scored 12 of A&M's 29 second-half points as the Aggies raised their lead to as many as 11 with 4:57 left to go. For the game, A&M turned in a season-low nine turnovers. The Aggie defense also forced their first Big 12 opponent to 20-or-more turnovers as Kansas had 21 errors on the court. The Jayhawks were paced by an 11-point effort from leading scorer Danielle McCray and 10 points each from Sade Morris and LaChelda Jacobs.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES
Senior All-America candidate Takia Starks has been on a fire in three of the last four ballgames against the nation's and league's best on the road, particularly in the second half. Case in point, Starks knocked down 21 of her game-and season-high 26 points in the second half of play at No. 16 Texas on Jan. 28. It marked a career-best half for Starks who previously recorded 18 second-half points toward a career-high 29 points versus Texas Tech a year ago on Feb. 17, 2008. Starks is currently on a six-game double-digit scoring streak, her longest of the season.
STARKS BY THE HALF
Game 1st 2nd
@ OU 0 19
@ OSU 2 13
@ UT 5 21
ON THE REBOUND
Senior center La Toya Micheaux is having her best career outing on the boards averaging a team-leading 7.5 per game for the Aggies which is on par to her breakout sophomore season in 2006-07, when she cleared the glass 237 times including 113 on the offensive end for a 7.4 average. Micheaux, a.k.a. Miss Mean, has led the team in the rebounding department on nine occasions this season and has brought down double-digit boards in three Big 12 games including the last two with a career-high 16 at rival Texas on Jan. 28 and 12 versus OSU on Jan. 25. She currently ranks ninth in the conference in rebounds and fifth in offensive rebounds (3.2 avg).
STARKS EYES THREE-POINT RECORD
Starks is two three-pointers shy of surpassing former A&M All-American Lisa Branch (1992-96) in career three-pointers made (165) in school history. She has knocked down a total of 164 for her career including 21 threes this season.
CAREER 3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE
1. Lisa Branch (1992-96) - 165
2. Takia Starks (2006-Present) - 164
3. A'Quonesia Franklin (2005-08) - 157
4. Amy Yates (1996-00) - 154
5. Prissy Sharpe (1996-00) - 118
VALENTINE'S THINK PINK
Texas A&M will host its annual BTHO Breast Cancer awareness women's basketball game against Colorado on Feb. 14 at Reed Arena. Tipoff with the Buffaloes on Valentine's Day is set for 2 p.m. (CT). The athletic department's goal is to raise $35,000 for the Kay Yow Foundation. A 5K Fun Run will kickoff the weekend's festivities at 10 a.m. Tickets to the game are on sale for $10 with $8 going towards the Kay Yow Foundation. Fans can also purchase a commemorative pink BTHO Breast Cancer T-Shirt for $5 with all of the proceeds from the sales benefiting the Kay Yow Foundation. A&M is joined in the breast cancer awareness initiative through corporate partnerships with the College Station Medical Center, Chevron and Kent Moore Cabinets.
AGGIE SIDEBARS
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is an undefeated 8-0 lifetime versus Kansas in his 24 years as a Division I head coach. The Jayhawks remain winless versus the Aggies since Blair's inaugural season in Aggieland in 2003-04.
• Last season, the Aggies went 4-2 against Big 12 North opponents in the regular season and 7-3 versus the South. A road win over the Jayhawks revived A&M from a 1-4 opening start to league play a year ago. The Aggies went on to a win 16 of their next 18 from then on which included their first-ever trip to the NCAA Elite Eight.
• A&M has held its last two opponents to their lowest shooting percentages of the season with OSU converting only 22.9 percent (11-of-48) of its shots from the floor, while UT shot 31.5 percent (17-of-54). A total of eight opponents have shot fewer than 33 percent against the Aggie defense including four ranked-or previously-ranked teams.
STATE FARM LONE STAR SHOWDOWN RECAP
Texas A&M 68, Texas 54
• For the fifth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Takia Starks, Tanisha Smith, Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux (4-1).
• With the victory, the Aggies claimed their fifth-ever win in Austin in the all-time series with rival Texas. They have won the last four-straight meetings between the two schools and claimed back-to-back road victories in the state capital for the first time in school history. Three of A&M's five wins on the road have been won in double figures including the 68-54 win (+14) to go along with a +15 point victory in 2008 and a +20 point victory in 2006.
• The win also snapped UT's 11-game home court win streak at the Frank Erwin Center dating back to a 70-55 win over Texas Tech on March 5, 2008. They were 10-0 at home coming into the State Farm Lone Star Showdown with the Aggies.
• Takia Starks recorded a season-high 26 points including 21 in the second half of play versus the Longhorns. It marked her 23rd career 20-point game and seventh of the season. She also brought down a season-high eight boards and made a career-high tying two blocked shots.
• A&M has allowed only seven or fewer second-half field goals in back-to-back games on the road against No. 24 Oklahoma State (4-of-23) on Jan. 24 and No. 16 Texas (7-of-29) on Jan. 28.
• Danielle Gant had 16 rebounds against Nebraska on March 8, 2006.
• For the third-straight game, Tanisha Smith was a spark plug for the Aggies scoring five of the team's first 14 points of the contest in a game-opening 14-3 run.
• Freshman Kelsey Assarian came off the bench and scored a career-high tying six points, all in the first half versus rival UT which marked a career-best for her in Big 12 play. She previously registered six points versus Penn State on Nov. 28.
• The A&M defense, ranked No. 2 in the nation in three-point field goal defense, held UT to its second fewest first-half points (28) next to their season low 19 first-half points at Purdue on Jan. 5. They also held the Longhorns to under their No. 6 nationally-ranked 39.2 shooting percentage from beyond the arc, with their third worst three-point outing of the season at 23.1 (3-of-13).
• In addition, the Aggies held the Longhorns to their fourth fewest points (54) in 74 all-time meetings between the two in-state rivals. UT also shot a season-low 31.5 percent from the floor (17-of-54).
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"It's a win-win situation, especially if we can get the people coming to see the men play, to stay over for us. We've had very good crowds at home over the last five ballgames. Hopefully, they can see us for the first time and come back to see us again. Two games for the price of one. That's a pretty good deal and a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon." - Coach Blair on the weekend's doubleheader at Reed Arena
"Hopefully, we can get a good crowd to come out and watch us play against Kansas. We look to come back and take care of business. Kansas is a good team and like anyone else, we need to have a good defensive effort and handle our business at home. We can't afford any more losses at home." - Senior All-America candidate Takia Starks on defending the home court in the Big 12
AGGIES ON THE RADIO
All Texas A&M women's basketball games can be heard via a radio broadcast on the Texas A&M Sports Network. Play-by-play announcer Mike Wright will call the action live from Reed Arena alongside color analyst Tap Bentz on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.