Dec. 18, 2009
Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic Game Notes in PDF Format 
#13/11 TEXAS A&M (7-1) vs. #14/13 ARIZONA STATE (7-1)
Game #9/#10
December 19, 2009 • 8:30 p.m. (CT)
South Point Arena (4,000)
at Las Vegas, Nev.
Â
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Texas A&M Leads 3-1
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
Â
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The 11th-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (7-1) will compete in the four-team Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic tournament to be held on Dec. 19-20 at the South Point Casino and Spa. The Aggies last traveled to Las Vegas four years ago playing Detroit and UNLV in the Duel in the Desert Classic during the 2005-06 campaign. A&M will face No. 13 Arizona State (7-1) in a much-anticipated rematch of last year's NCAA Sweet 16 meeting in the Trenton Regional on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 8:30 p.m. (CT) and West Coast Conference powerhouse Gonzaga (9-2) on Sunday, Dec. 20 at 10:45 p.m. (CT). The Aggies and Sun Devils are one of three top 15-ranked schools in the four-team tournament field next to fifth-ranked Baylor (9-1). A&M has won three out of its four games on the road or a neutral site and will look to rebound from a tough 56-54 loss at TCU on Dec. 12. ASU will be the third ranked opponent and second Pac-10 Conference foe the Aggies will face in non-conference play this season.
Â
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
Arizona State returns two starters from its NCAA Elite Eight 26-9 squad including current leading scorer Danielle Orsillo (13.1 ppg) and Kayli Murphy (9.0 ppg). The Sun Devils have won their last five-straight contests with victories over Hawai'i, East Tennessee State, Idaho State, Pepperdine and North Dakota. ASU has six players on its roster over 6-foot-2 inches tall headlined by 6-foot-5 forward Becca Tobin (7.6 rpg). The height advantage has translated into the Sun Devils outrebounding opponents by an average of 12.0 boards per game which ranks seventh nationally. The ASU defense has held opponents to an average of 55.0 points or less this year.
Â
BULLDOG WATCH
Gonzaga is on a five-game winning streak which includes a 64-57 victory at Portland State on Dec. 13, the Bulldogs' last outing before this weekend's tournament play. They are guided by the floor leadership of the nation's top point guard and 2009 West Coast Conference Player of the Year in Courtney Vandersloot who is dishing out 9.7 assists per game. GU was picked as the preseason favorite to win the WCC title and most notably upset fifth-seeded Xavier as the No. 12 seed in the 2009 NCAA First Round a year ago under 10th-year head coach Kelly Graves. The Bulldogs are currently receiving votes in both national polls.
Â
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No.        Name                                                   2009-10 Stats
51          Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Jr.                  8.3 ppg, 5.5 apg
20          Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So.                  8.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg
22Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. 16.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg
21          Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So.                    10.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg
2             Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr.           3.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg
Â
ARIZONA STATE
No.        Name                                                   2009-10 Stats
35          Tenaya Watson, G, 5-9, Jr.                5.9 ppg, 3.1 apg
13 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Danielle Orsillo, G, 5-9, Sr. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 13.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg
25          Kimberly Brandon, G/F, 6-2, So.       5.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg
21          Kayli Murphy, F/C, 6-2, Sr.                 9.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg
32          Becca Tobin, F, 6-5, Jr.                       9.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg
Â
GONZAGA
No.        Name                                                   2009-10 Stats
21          Courtney Vandersloot, G, 5-8, Jr.     11.4 ppg, 9.7 apg
23          Katelan Redmon, G, 6-0, So.              13.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg
34          Tiffanie Shives, G, 5-10, Sr.                6.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg
12          Vivian Frieson, F, 6-0, Sr.                   11.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg
30          Heather Bowman, F, 6-2, Sr.             16.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg
Â
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
2009-10 Category              TAMU    ASU       GU
Overall Record                    7-1         7-1         9-2               Â
Conference Record            0-0         0-0         0-0
Points Per Game                 83.5       67.5       77.6
Scoring Margin                   +25.3     +12.5     +16.0
Rebounds Per Game         38.8       44.6       43.9
Rebounding Margin           +2.0       +12.0     +5.8
Field Goal Percentage       49.6       40.7       44.6
Field Goal% Defense         34.4       36.7       36.0
Three-Point FG%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 48.2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 32.1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 28.2
Free Throw Percentage     68.5       66.3       70.6
Turnovers Per Game         16.1       19.1       17.5
Assists Per Game                19.8       17.0       18.3
Blocks Per Game                6.4         4.6         4.5        Â
Steals Per Game                 11.5       9.1         11.8
Â
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M leads 3-1 in the all-time series with Arizona State. Both teams last met in the 2009 NCAA Sweet 16 in addition to an 82-69 home-opening victory for the Aggies during the 1994-95 campaign. A&M went on to win the 1995 NWIT championship title that same year under former head coach Candi Harvey. The Aggies also defeated the Sun Devils on two other occasions in 1978 (74-71) on a neutral site and in 1993 (73-68) in Tempe, Ariz. They have never faced Gonzaga in the 36-year history of the program.
Â
SWEET 16 FLASHBACK
Second-seeded Texas A&M fell to sixth-seeded Arizona State, 84-69, in its second-straight and third overall NCAA Sweet 16 appearance on March 29, 2009 at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, N.J. Three players scored in double figures for the Aggies including a team-high 19 points by Tanisha Smith who went 9-of-14 from the floor and had 11 points in the first half alone. A&M couldn't get over the hump as they trailed Arizona State for most of the contest. Smith's game-opening bucket at 19:45 and her first-half layup at 10:05 where the only two leads the Aggies had in the ballgame. After capitalizing on 62 combined turnovers against 15th-seeded Evansville and 10th-seeded Minnesota in the first and second rounds, A&M was not able to do the same against ASU. Playing a sound offensive game shooting 48.3 percent from the floor with multiple scorers, the Aggies couldn't stop Arizona State's Briann January from hitting 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 6-of-6 makes from the charity stripe. In fact, the Sun Devils didn't miss at all with an opponent season-high 62.0 shooting percentage from the floor (31-of-50). Both teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of play and followed it up with perfection from the free throw line as A&M went a school-record 10-for-10 and ASU went 18-of-21. Smith hit a jumper with time about to expire to cut the Sun Devils' lead to 42-37 at halftime. The Aggies got within one early in the second half and within three when Takia Starks hit two free throws with 7:12 remaining in regulation to close the gap, 68-65. ASU did not take control until the final three minutes when it used a 7-2 run to push the lead out to 10 points. Starks ended her Aggie career with 18 points, while Danielle Gant closed our four years in Aggieland with 13 points and six rebounds against the Sun Devils.
Â
AGAINST THE PAC-10
Historically, Texas A&M is 11-14 lifetime versus schools hailing from the Pac-10 including Arizona (2-2), Arizona State (3-1), Cal (1-1), Oregon (1-1), Oregon State (1-1), Stanford (0-1), UCLA (1-2), USC (0-2), Washington (1-1) and Washington State (1-2).
Â
AGAINST THE WCC
The Aggies are 13-5 all-time against opponents from the West Coast Conference having played Loyola Marymount (1-0), Pepperdine (3-1), Portland (2-0), Saint Mary's (4-0), San Francisco (1-3) and Santa Clara (2-1). A&M won the Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament title hosted by Pepperdine last November in Malibu, Calif.
Â
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Texas A&M currently leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage with a 48.2 percent accuracy from downtown. Statistically, the Aggies rank among the top 10 in eight NCAA statistical categories behind defending national champion and top-ranked Connecticut. They rank sixth in scoring offense (83.5), seventh in scoring margin (25.3), third in field-goal percentage (49.6), third in assists per game (19.8), seventh in blocked shots per game (6.4), eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.22) and fourth in turnover margin (9.1). Junior point guard Sydney Colson ranks 34th nationally distributing an average of 5.5 assists per game with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Â
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 0-1 versus Arizona State and has never faced a Gonzaga squad in his 25 years as a Division I head coach. He is 6-5 lifetime against Pac-10 schools including 1-0 marks versus Stanford, UCLA and USC, while he is an undefeated 7-0 lifetime versus WCC schools.
Â
• Coach Blair used to coach high school volleyball against current Arizona State Director of Athletics Lisa Love in the late 70's while he was at Dallas South Oak Cliff High School and Love was at Arlington James Bowie High School. Blair and Love are both graduates of Texas Tech. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1972 and 1974, while Love earned her bachelor's degree in 1978.
Â
• Ironically, the Aggies will play back-to-back games against opponents who they faced in the NCAA Tournament over the last four consecutive seasons in TCU and Arizona State. The Lady Frogs defeated A&M in the 2006 NCAA First Round (69-65) as well as the Sun Devils in the 2009 NCAA Sweet 16 (84-69) both played at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, N.J. The Aggies also opened up the season with a 95-77 victory over perennial power Duke, who they beat in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16 in Oklahoma City.
Â
TCU RECAP
TCU 56, Texas A&M 54
• For the seventh time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (6-1).
• Despite the loss, the Aggies still lead 29-4 in the all-time series with TCU. The last three meetings between the two schools have now been decided by 10 points or less including within four points or less in the last two.
• Tyra White reached double figures for the third time this season with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor against the Lady Frogs. It was her first as the team's leading scorer in 43 career games played.
• Junior Maryann Baker registered a career-high nine points shooting a career-best 3-of-4 from behind the three-point line. She also played a career-high 23 minutes versus TCU.
• The Aggies outrebounded their opponents for the fifth time this year, 40-31, behind the board work of Tanisha Smith, who brought down a season-high seven rebounds, and Damitria Buchanan with a season-high eight.
Â
ON THE NATIONAL SCENE
Texas A&M and Baylor are one of only 31 teams in the nation who have one loss or less on the season. The Aggies dropped three spots to No. 13 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll and six spots to No. 11 in this week's USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll. They were previously off to the second-best start in school history, but dropped a two-point decision (56-54) at old Southwest Conference rival TCU on Dec. 12.
Â
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 POLL
1. Connecticut (40)
2. Stanford
3. Tennessee
4. Notre Dame
5. LSU
6. Baylor
7. Duke
8. Ohio State
9. North Carolina
10. Florida State
11. Georgia
12. Xavier
13. Texas A&M
14. Arizona State
15. Oklahoma
16. Michigan State
17. Texas
18. Vanderbilt
19. Virginia
20. Nebraska
21. Pittsburgh
22. Kansas
23. Wisconsin-Green Bay
24. James Madison
25. Georgia Tech
Â
USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES TOP 25 POLL
1. Connecticut (31)
2. Stanford
3. Tennessee
4. Notre Dame
5. Baylor
6. Florida State
7. Ohio State
8. Duke
9. LSU
10. North Carolina
11. Texas A&M
12. Georgia
13. Arizona State
14. Xavier
15. Oklahoma
16. Vanderbilt
17. Virginia
18. Nebraska
19. Pittsburgh
20. Michigan State
21. Texas
22. Syracuse
23. West Virginia
24. Wisconsin-Green Bay
25. James Madison
Â
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"I was really hoping to go into this weekend undefeated, not when the season first started, but after we got through Cal. I wanted that TCU game. I wanted to be able to look at our conference foe (Baylor) right in the eye, saying, `here we are and here you are - the two best teams in the conference.' We have both suffered a loss this season and both of us have one road loss. Arizona State is the same team as they were last year. They are going to be in our shorts on defense. They lost three starters, but they are very good and they've had success. They are No. 14 in the country and we are No. 13. They are wanting to move up in the polls and we are wanting to move up. It's going to be a great ballgame. We will work on Gonzaga after the Arizona State game. They might have the best point guard in the country in Courtney Vandersloot. She is very good and fills up a stat sheet. They are one of those real smart teams you try not to schedule, but we've scheduled them. I really like Arizona State, because they play our style of ball. They are very, very aggressive on defense and they've always had great point guard play and that's what makes a basketball team. Our point guard play will be very much improved in this ballgame." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic tournament field and both matchups against Arizona State and Gonzaga
Â
"This was a weekend we were pointing to all year. We were going to know what type of team we were going to have after going to Auburn, Cal and TCU on the road and playing Duke at home. Those are four quality teams who are probably going to make the NCAA Tournament. Now, we have the chance to play Arizona State and Gonzaga and we still have New Mexico and Prairie View A&M left, who are both NCAA-caliber teams. We knew we were going to be ready and battle tested. I like my basketball team and we have gotten better over the last three days of practice." - Coach Blair on a tough non-conference slate in preparation for Big 12 Conference play
Â
"It's time for us to go out there and get redemption. It was a big game last year and we didn't do a very good job. We didn't play the type of defense Texas A&M always goes out and plays. We lost that game by double digits. It was an ugly note to end on last year. It really left a sour taste in the coaches' mouths and our mouths as well. It wasn't a game that we were proud of. Even though Arizona State doesn't have the same exact team back, we just want to execute well and play good defense. They are very similar to us and are going to be aggressive. They will be right in your face and ready to defend. We just have to go out there with a focused mindset and execute our game plan. This is my first trip to Las Vegas and I am really excited. I would love to see the Blue Man Group perform. Going to Vegas will be a good experience, but at the end of the day, we know it's a business trip. We have to go out there and win both games which would give us some confidence going into our next few games and prior to Big 12 Conference play." - Texas A&M senior point guard Sydney Colson on the rematch with Arizona State
Â
"We are going to have to come out and play hard like we always do. We had a little bit of a hard time on the road recently (at TCU), but we have been working hard in practice. Both of these teams are going to be good and we are going to give them a good matchup. We just have to play harder and better. Finals are over this week and we are looking forward to our trip to Vegas and the Christmas holiday break ahead." - Texas A&M sophomore forward Kelsey Assarian on going back on the road
Â
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. Former play-by-play announcer Steve Miller will call the action live from the South Point Arena alongside color analyst and former player A'Quonesia Franklin on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.
Â
Â