Dec. 7, 2009
North Texas Game Notes in PDF Format 
#10 TEXAS A&M (6-0) vs. NORTH TEXAS (3-6)
Game #7
December 8, 2009 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,989)
at College Station, Texas
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Texas A&M Leads 12-4
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Video at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The 10th-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (6-0) will complete a tough four-game stretch in seven days with a home tilt against North Texas (3-6) on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Reed Arena. Tipoff between the Aggies and Mean Green is set for 7 p.m. (CT). A&M is coming off a perfect 3-0 week with victories over Stephen F. Austin, Southern Illinois and No. 19 California. The Aggies have won six in a row which ties for the second-best start in school history next to a 6-0 start to the 2006-07 season. A&M earned its second win over a top 25 opponent this season with a 68-61 victory over No. 19 Cal to claim the Colliers International Classic tournament title on Dec. 6 in Berkeley, Calif. Reigning Big 12 Conference Player of the Week and team leading scorer Tanisha Smith was named the tournament MVP, while preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Danielle Adams garnered a spot on the all-tournament team. The Aggies currently boast the nation's sixth-best scoring offense (84.3) and rank fourth in field-goal percentage with a 49.2 percent accuracy from the floor. After being on the road for the last four days in the Bay Area, they return home to the friendly confines of Reed Arena where they have won 60 of their last 65 games.
A LOOK AT THE MEAN GREEN
North Texas is looking to snap a two-game losing skid with recent losses at Houston (104-65) on Dec. 5 and SMU (80-58) on Dec. 2. The Aggies will be the second top 10 opponent the Mean Green will face this season next to a 96-52 setback at then-No. 10 Texas on Nov. 20. They are guided by second-year head coach Shanice Stephens who has the services of two Division I transfers on this year's roster with junior Niq'ky Hughes from Texas and sophomore Brittney Hudson from Rice. NT was picked to finished tied for fourth in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Jr. (8.5 ppg, 5.7 apg)
#20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. (6.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. (18.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. (11.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. (2.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
NORTH TEXAS
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#30 Brittney James, G, 5-8, Sr. (13.2 ppg, 3.2 apg)
#23 Niq'ky Hughes, F, 6-0, Jr. (11.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
#32 Denetra Kellum, G, 5-8, Jr. (9.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
#24 Jasmine Godbolt, F, 6-0, Fr. (12.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg)
#40 Torrian Timms, F, 6-0, Sr. (4.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M leads 12-4 in the all-time series with North Texas. The Aggies have won the last three-straight meetings between the two schools including a 70-52 victory on Dec. 18, 2006 at Reed Arena in College Station. A&M is 8-1 lifetime when playing UNT at home in Aggieland.
THE UNBEATENS
The Aggies are one of only 17 Division I schools and one of only two Big 12 schools who remain undefeated on the season next to top-ranked Connecticut, Florida State, Georgia, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Indiana State, James Madison, Kentucky, LSU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, St. Bonaventure, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee and Xavier. A&M reeled off a program-best 12-0 start in 2008-09.
IT'S REIGNING THREES
For the second-straight week, Texas A&M leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage knocking down the three-ball with a whopping 49.3 percent accuracy behind the marksmanship of Tanisha Smith (57.1), Danielle Adams (50.0), Sydney Carter (53.3) and Sydney Colson (50.0). The Aggies have hit six-or-more three pointers in a ballgame in four of six contests this season including a season-high nine against No. 6 Duke on Nov. 15.
LOOKING AT THE RPI
With two victories over top 25-ranked opponents and a pair of quality wins on the road at 2009 NCAA Tournament participants in Auburn and Cal, it's no wonder that Texas A&M currently ranks No. 4 in The Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings and No. 8 in the latest CollegeRPI.com Ratings as of Dec. 7. Year-in and year-out, A&M plays one of the strongest schedules in the country. Seven of the Aggies' 13 non-conference opponents are currently rated in the top 100 of the RPI. Up next, A&M will continue its road travels at old Southwest Conference rival TCU on Dec. 12.
THE DISH ON THE AGGIES
The Aggies currently rank seventh nationally in assists per game (19.2) and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.25) behind the point guard play of what Coach Blair has dubbed his "two Syds". Starting point guard Sydney Colson ranks 29th nationally averaging 5.7 assists per game and 25th nationally with an impressive 2.43 assist-to-turnover ratio. Backup point guard Sydney Carter ranks 140th nationally with a 1.43 assist-to-turnover ratio.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is an undefeated 17-0 all-time versus North Texas in his 25 years as a Division I head coach including a 3-0 mark with the Aggies.
• North Texas is one of nine Lone Star State schools on this year's schedule. A&M is 2-0 thus far on its tour of Texas with an 86-50 win over Rice on Nov. 18 and 106-56 rout of Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 2. The Aggies will also face TCU up next on Dec. 12, Prairie View A&M on Dec. 28, Lamar on Jan. 4, Texas on Jan. 9 and Feb. 20, Texas Tech on Jan. 23 and Feb. 10 and Baylor on Jan. 27 and Feb. 22.
• North Texas head coach Shanice Stephens was a member of two NCAA Tournament teams at Big 12 Conference foe Oklahoma State from 1992-93 and is originally from Midwest City, Okla., the same hometown as Texas A&M freshman forward/center Diamond Ashmore. Stephens, 38, is the second-youngest Division I head coach in the state of Texas.
IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Aggies remained at No. 10 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released on Monday. They have appeared in the national polls for all but one week of the season in the AP Poll and every week of the season in the ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Top 25 Poll. A&M is the second-highest ranked team hailing from the Big 12 Conference behind No. 6 Baylor.
2009-10 ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 POLL
1. Connecticut (40)
2. Stanford
3. Notre Dame
4. Tennessee
5. LSU
6. Baylor
7. Duke
8. Xavier
9. Ohio State
10. Texas A&M
11. North Carolina
12. Florida State
13. Georgia
14. Arizona State
15. Pittsburgh
16. Oklahoma
17. Texas
18. Vanderbilt
19. Virginia
20. Dayton
21. Michigan State
22. California
23. Kansas
24. Nebraska
25. Maryland
CALIFORNIA RECAP
Texas A&M 68, Cal 61
• For the first this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (1-0).
• Tanisha Smith was named the tournament MVP, while Danielle Adams was selected to the all-tournament team. Smith averaged 17.0 points over the course of the two tournament games versus Southern Illinois and host Cal.
• With the victory, the Aggies picked up their second win of the season versus a top 25 ranked opponent. They also evened the all-time series to 1-1 versus California. Both teams last met in 1982.
• The win also marked only the third time A&M has beaten two-or-more top 25 opponents in non-conference play in school history. Of the three all-time occasions, it is the earliest in a season for the Aggies to claim two top 25 wins - a three-week span to be exact since beating No. 6 Duke on Nov. 15. The other two times have been in a span of a month. The Aggies defeated No. 16 Duke and No. 20 Mississippi during the 1995-96 season and No. 23 Pittsburgh, No. 24 TCU and No. 25 New Mexico during the 2008-09 season.
• A&M improved to an undefeated 6-0 this season which ties for the second-best start in school history next to a 6-0 start to the 2006-07 season. The Aggies went a program-best 12-0 to start off the 2008-09 season.
• Sydney Carter made only her second career start next to her first against No. 24 Oklahoma State on Jan. 24, 2009. She brought down a career-high eight rebounds and a career-high tying two blocks versus Cal.
• The Aggies went without a turnover for the first 15 minutes of the first half of play against Cal. A&M had only one turnover in the first half versus the Golden Bears which matched one turnover in the second half of play at Kansas State a year ago where they had a season-low seven miscues on March 1, 2009. For the game, A&M made a season-low seven turnovers against Cal.
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"North Texas has been here for a couple of days practicing at our gym getting ready for us and making corrections from their last game at Houston where they didn't play very well. Coach (Shanice) Stephens has some new kids that she is working in. They are in transition and are trying to find their identity right now. She will eventually have her type of kids in and turn their program into a good one in their conference. Teams get up for us and each team brings in a different scheme on how they are going to guard us. It gets us ready for conference play. We are going to go after it tomorrow. We're still a little jetlag and tired traveling back from the Bay Area, but we have to be ready to dance tomorrow. We won't underestimate them." - Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair on North Texas
"We are excited to come back home and have a lot of fans in our corner again. We have grown over the last two games on the road. It will be a good opportunity to show everyone what we have learned and how we have developed. Our team chemistry has gotten better and we have gotten tougher. We were able to pull off a win in a hostile environment at Cal which helped us develop our mental toughness. It's a pretty tough turnaround for us, but this all plays out in helping us become more mentality tough and stronger. We will go back on the road against a good team this weekend at TCU which will give a couple of our players from Dallas a chance to play in front of their family and friends." - Texas A&M senior forward Damitria Buchanan on the quick turnaround between games and traveling on the road
"Last year, when we scrimmaged North Texas, they had a couple of players who weren't able to play because they were transfers. They (Niq'ky Hughes and Brittney Hudson) have both turned into major contributors this year and are high-caliber players that transferred from Texas and Rice. We played them like we played everyone else last season defensively. We will be prepared to play North Texas tomorrow, but we are looking forward to getting a little break between Tuesday and Thursday to rest and focus on finals this week." - Buchanan on North Texas
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.