Dec. 27, 2009
Prairie View A&M Game Notes in PDF Format 
#10/10 TEXAS A&M (9-1) vs. PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (3-5)
Game #11
December 28, 2009 • 8:00 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 13-2
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Video at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
After enjoying some time off to spend with family and friends over the Christmas holiday break, the 10th-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (9-1) returns to action this week playing two games in a span of three short days prior to the New Year and Big 12 Conference play. First up, the Aggies will tangle with Prairie View A&M (3-5) on Monday, Dec. 28 with tipoff slated for 8 p.m. (CT) at Reed Arena. They will then turnaround and travel to New Mexico (8-3) for a Wednesday, Dec. 30 battle at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M. A&M is coming off a successful 2-0 tournament run at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic with a pair of victories over Arizona State (72-62) on Dec. 19 and Gonzaga (80-76) on Dec. 20. The Aggies return home for only the fifth time this season in the friendly confines of Reed Arena, where they have won 61 of their last 66 contests. A&M will have competed on the road for close to 60 percent of its games in the months of November and December combined, while Prairie View has played all eight of its contests on the road.
HALF-PRICE HOLIDAY HOOPS PROMOTION
Texas A&M Athletics is pleased to offer the Half-Price Holiday Hoops ticket promotion for Aggie women's basketball games during the holiday season at Reed Arena. The special holiday hoops ticket offer continues on Monday, Dec. 28 as the Aggies take on Prairie View A&M and concludes with their Big 12 Conference home opener versus Iowa State on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Tickets start as low as $2.50. Fans can purchase Half-Price Holiday Hoops tickets online at: http://tickets.12thmanfoundation.com.
WATCH IT LIVE AT REED ARENA
Fans come early to the Texas A&M women's basketball game against Prairie View A&M and catch the second half of the Independence Bowl and cheer on the Aggie football team versus Georgia as the game will be shown live on the 12th Man TV at Reed Arena. Doors will open to the public an hour before tipoff at 7 p.m. (CT).
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M AT A GLANCE
Prairie View A&M returns three starters from its 23-11 squad which advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago prior to falling to Big 12 rival and top-seeded Oklahoma (76-47) in the first round of the Oklahoma City Regional. Under the leadership of fifth-year head coach and recent Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, the Panthers have only lost four of its last five games by seven points or less including its last, a 50-45 upset bid at Big East Conference power Rutgers on Dec. 10. Two players on the PVAMU roster are Division I transfers including third-leading scorer Latara Darrett out of Baylor (11.9 ppg) and Robin Jones out of Memphis (4.0 rpg). The Panthers' three wins this season were against Cal State Northridge (85-70) on Nov. 15, UT Arlington (65-58) on Nov. 27 and New Orleans (71-50) on Dec. 5.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Jr. (7.2 ppg, 5.0 apg)
#20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. (10.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. (17.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. (9.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
#2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. (4.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#31 Courtney Larsen, G, 5-8, Jr. (4.1 ppg, 2.1 apg)
#24 Candice Thomas, G, 5-9, Sr. (16.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
#14 Latara Darrett, G, 5-10, Jr. (11.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
#20 Gaati Werema, F, 6-0, Sr. (15.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
#2 Ciara Banks, F, 6-1, Jr. (3.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
INSIDE THE SERIES
Texas A&M holds a 13-2 advantage including a 12-game winning streak in the all-time series versus Prairie View A&M. The Aggies last faced the Lady Panthers in non-conference play on Nov. 15, 2007 in College Station. The Aggies are 9-1 all-time when playing Prairie View at their home venue. In fact, only four contests in the series have been played on the road or at a neutral site. The Lady Panthers' only two victories in the series occurred in back-to-back matchups during the 1974-75 season under former head coach Kay Don. Both were two-point losses (L, 48-46 and L, 51-49) for the Aggies.
SERIES REWIND
Four players scored in double figures to lead No. 11 Texas A&M to a 19-point rout of Prairie View A&M, 73-54, on Nov. 15, 2007, at Reed Arena. Danielle Gant paced the Aggies with a game-high 17 points in the team's home season opener, while La Toya Micheaux turned in her third career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Takia Starks and Sydney Colson chipped in 14 and 12 respectively. A&M went into the lockerroom with just a 32-27 advantage at halftime, but used a second-half rally to stretch the lead by as many as 24 points with 2:20 remaining in regulation. The Lady Panthers committed 34 turnovers in the ballgame despite shooting 46.5 percent from the floor (20-of-43). They were led in scoring by SWAC Freshman of the Year Gaati Werema who had 14. For the ballgame, the Aggies shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the floor and went 20-of-24 from the free throw line behind a 9-of-10 performance by Micheaux. A&M made 21 steals versus Prairie View which was seven short of the Reed Arena record.
WHITE OUT
Texas A&M redshirt sophomore guard Tyra White helped lead Texas A&M to a 2-0 week with victories over No. 13 Arizona State and Gonzaga at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. White averaged 18.0 points while shooting a team-leading 66.7 percent from the floor (12-of-18), 75.0 percent from beyond the three-point arc (6-of-8) and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe (6-of-8) against the Sun Devils and Bulldogs combined. She recorded a career-and game-high 18 points in a rematch which avenged a loss to ASU in the NCAA Sweet 16 a year ago. It marked only the second time in program history in which A&M has beaten three ranked opponents in the non-conference season. White also matched her career best with 18 points against the Zags in which she knocked down a career-high five three-pointers including a perfect 4-for-4 performance from downtown in the first half of play. She is currently on a four-game double-digit scoring streak and has turned in double figures five times this season.
THE 913 CONNECTION
The Aggies currently have three players averaging double figures in scoring with the Kansas City trio of preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention Tanisha Smith (17.3 ppg), preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Danielle Adams (13.7 ppg) and former preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Tyra White (10.3 ppg). They account for 49 percent of the team's scoring this season. Smith has registered double digits in nine of 10 games played this season, while Adams made her first career start versus Gonzaga on Dec. 20. White turned in back-to-back career-best contests with 18 points each against the Sun Devils and Zags.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 1-0 lifetime versus Prairie View A&M in his 25 years as a Division I head coach. Both Coach Blair and Coach Cooper-Dyke have crossed paths before, prior to the two all-time meetings between each other on the sidelines. As a player, Cooper-Dyke led her alma mater USC to a pair of national championship titles in 1983 and 1984. USC defeated Louisiana Tech, where Blair was an assistant coach from 1980-85, in the 1983 national championship game in Norfolk, Va., and the 1984 national semifinals in Los Angeles.
• Prairie View A&M is one of 12 opponents on this year's schedule which advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. In fact, the Aggies will have faced seven teams coming off an NCAA berth including Duke, Auburn, California, TCU, Arizona State and Gonzaga in non-conference play.
• Texas A&M and fellow system school Prairie View A&M are the two oldest public institutions of higher education in the state of Texas.
LAS VEGAS HOLIDAY HOOPS CLASSIC RECAP
Texas A&M 80, Gonzaga 76
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (1-0). It marked the first career start for the preseason Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year Danielle Adams.
• With the win, the Aggies take a 1-0 lead in the all-time series with Gonzaga. Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair remains an undefeated 8-0 against schools hailing from the West Coast Conference in his 25-year head coaching career.
• Tanisha Smith registered a game-high 20 points which marked her third 20-point game this season and fourth of her career.
• Tyra White recorded 18 points which marked the 11th occasion of her career to score in double figures. She went a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor in the first half of play versus the Bulldogs.
• The Kansas City trio comprised of White, Smith and Adams combined for all seven of the Aggies' three-pointers in the ballgame. All three players knocked down a trey in the first three minutes of the contest. White drained a career-high five three-pointers against the Zags.
• A&M's 80 points in the contest was the second-most points scored by a Gonzaga opponent this season behind 105 points by Stanford on Nov. 29. The Aggies came into the game as the sixth-best team in the nation in scoring offense (82.2 avg).
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"We came back after five days off and had a good, hard work out on the 26th and 27th. We played very well against two very good teams in Arizona State and Gonzaga in Vegas and hopefully, it will carry over to the rest of our games during the holidays. Our offense started clicking again and I was pleased with how we played defense against Arizona State. I think these last three games will get us ready for conference play. I like playing Texas teams, especially NCAA Tournament teams. When you play Prairie View A&M, you know they are going to win their conference and go to the tournament. It is mind-boggling that they have not played a home game yet. Give Coach Cooper credit for making their schedule tough to get them ready for conference play. She goes after the best teams she can find. We will have our work cut out for us. They are a small team that plays a five-out offense. They run some very good offensive sets, because of Coach Cooper's experience playing in the WNBA for the Houston Comets. What she has done in five years with her program is remarkable. They are very lucky to have her. She is one of the better coaches in the state of Texas. This is a ballgame we need to work on polishing some of the things we did well in Vegas, but at the same time, a hard ballgame where we can get up and down the floor. This is a transition team who played Texas Tech within seven points in Lubbock and Rutgers by five points in New Jersey. I hope our fans that stayed here in College Station and didn't go to the bowl game, will come out and support us." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on Prairie View A&M
"We had two tough practices this weekend to get us conditioned and ready for the quick turnaround this week. They (Prairie View A&M) have a four-guard motion with one post inside. Our posts will have to step-up and guard their guards. We are ready. Having a game at home will be good, after being on the road. We have to take care of Prairie View first, before we even think about New Mexico. We have to be really focused and keep to our game plan." - Texas A&M junior point guard Sydney Colson on returning from the holiday break and playing Prairie View
"We will continue to go out there and play hard and play our kind of game (against Prairie View and New Mexico). We have already experienced quick turnarounds this season. It's not anything new for us. It will be a challenge, because we will be on the road again, but we just need to play through it. These next three games will test us mentally and get us ready for Big 12 Conference play. It's now the midpoint of the season and the last five days off during the Christmas break helped us rejuvenate our bodies for the rest of the season to come." - Texas A&M senior forward Damitria Buchanan on the holiday break and quick three-day turnaround
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 David Campbell on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.