Dec. 29, 2009
New Mexico Game Notes in PDF Format 
#10/10 TEXAS A&M (10-1) vs. NEW MEXICO (8-3)
Game #12
December 30, 2009 • 8:00 p.m. (CT)
The Pit/Bob King Court (18,018)
at Albuquerque, N.M.
Television: The Mtn. (DirecTV Channel 616)
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Texas A&M Leads 1-0
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The 10th-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (10-1) looks to continue its winning ways in non-conference play, but will have its hands full by traveling to the legendary Pit, tabbed one of the Top 20 Sporting Venues of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated, to take on New Mexico (8-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 30 in Albuquerque, N.M. The Aggies and Lobos will exchange the tipoff at 8 p.m. (CT). A&M will have a quick turnaround this week with a two-game in three-day stretch which included an 89-48 blowout of Prairie View A&M on Monday night at Reed Arena. The Aggies, who are among the top 10 teams in the nation in scoring offense, are averaging 82.6 points per game, while their signature defense is holding opponents to just 36.4 percent shooting from the floor and 28.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc. They are 5-1 away from College Station this season with one loss to UNM league rival TCU (54-56) on Dec. 12.
ON THE TUBE
Texas A&M will appear on national television eight times during the 2009-10 campaign and for the second time this season on the Mtn. Network. Check your local cable providers to see if they carry the Mtn. Network. The game can be viewed locally in the Bryan-College Station area to satellite subscribers to DirecTV on Channel 616. Play-by-play announcer Erin Bajackson and color analyst Andrea Lloyd will call the action live for the network from The Pit.
WELCOME TO THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT
The Aggies will be making only their second-ever trip to "The Land of Enchantment" next to the 1995-96 season under former head coach Candi Harvey. Texas A&M last went an unblemished 2-0 in the state of New Mexico with victories over No. 20-ranked Mississippi (75-60) and Southern Utah (69-62) in a holiday tournament hosted by New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO
The Lobos are currently on a three-game winning streak with victories over Arizona (81-61) on Dec. 9, Loyola Marymount (74-55) on Dec. 12 and rival New Mexico State (81-64) on Dec. 20 prior to the Christmas holiday break. However, they are 0-2 against Big 12 Conference opponents this season with losses to Oklahoma State (56-70) on Nov. 18 and Texas Tech (55-65) on Dec. 5. OSU and Toledo are the only two schools to have come in and stolen a win at The Pit where New Mexico is 6-2 on the season. The Lobos have won 221 out of their last 304 home games (.727) since 1991-92.
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. (10.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. (17.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. (9.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
#2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. (4.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
NEW MEXICO
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#11 Lauren Taylor, G, 6-0, So. (12.3 ppg, 3.2 apg)
#10 Amy Beggin, G, 5-6, Sr. (15.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#20 Sara Halasz, G, 6-0, So. (11.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
#32 Amanda Best, G/F, 6-0, Jr. (10.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
#52 Jessica Kielpinski, C, 6-1, Jr. (6.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
AGAINST THE MWC
Texas A&M leads 1-0 in the all-time series with New Mexico. In addition, the Aggies are 36-10 (.783) lifetime against schools hailing from the Mountain West Conference including TCU (29-4), Colorado State (1-0), San Diego State (2-0), UNLV (2-5) and Wyoming (1-1).
LAST TIME OUT
The combination of Tanisha Smith saw her second career start after battling tonsillitis for most of the non-conference slate and registered a career-and season-high 15 points to round out the Aggies' double-figure scorers on the night. La Toya Micheaux added seven boards and Sydney Colson dished out seven assists in the winning cause.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• One of the greatest players in New Mexico girls' basketball history played for Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair from 1997-2000 at the University of Arkansas. Karyn Karlin, a native of Fruitland, N.M. and one of the top recruits in the country, started her basketball success by leading Kirkland Central High School to four consecutive 3A New Mexico state championships. The three-time state high school player of the year was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year in 1997 and led the Lady Razorbacks to the 1998 NCAA Final Four.
• Coach Blair is 1-1 all-time versus New Mexico in his 25 years as a Division I head coach. Wednesday's game will mark only the second time a Blair-coached squad will have played at The Pit. Arkansas played UNM in Karyn Karlin's senior year with the Lobos pulling off a 71-66 upset on Dec. 21, 1999 in Albuquerque, N.M.
• Blair and New Mexico head coach Don Flanagan both started off their coaching careers with success on the high school level. Blair led South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas to three state 4A titles and a 239-18 record (.930) from 1973-80, while Flanagan led Eldorado High School in Albuquerque to nine undefeated seasons and an impressive 401-13 record (.969) prior to his appointment at UNM in 1995. Both have built Aggie and Lobo Women's Basketball into conference and national contenders in their tenures.
• Former Texas A&M men's tennis coach Tim Cass (1997-2006) currently serves as senior associate athletics director at his alma mater, New Mexico. Cass led the Aggies to three Big 12 Conference postseason tennis titles in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and to the NCAA Sweet 16 during six of his last seven seasons in Aggieland. He helped develop the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center which is one of the premier tennis facilities in the country and located adjacent to Reed Arena on the A&M campus.
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M RECAP
Texas A&M 89, Prairie View A&M 48
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Assarian (1-0). It marked the first career start for Assarian.
• With the victory, the Aggies have now won 13 straight in the all-time series versus Prairie View A&M dating back to a 68-49 win by the Aggies on Jan. 26, 1976.
• Former Texas A&M standouts Takia Starks and Danielle Gant were recognized at a timeout during the game for their return to Aggieland for the first time since beginning their professional playing careers in Australia and Turkey respectively.
• Sophomore Kelsey Assarian led all scorers in the first half of play with a career-high 10 points. She was one of four players in double figures with 10 and also reset career bests in field goals made (5) and blocked shots (2).
• Tanisha Smith turned in her second career double-double with 17 points and a career-high tying 10 rebounds against Prairie View. It was her first since turning in 15 points and 10 rebounds versus Colorado on Feb. 14, 2009.
• Danielle Adams reached double digits for the ninth time this season with a game-high 19 points. She went a career-high 7-of-12 from the charity stripe and brought down a career-best eight rebounds versus the Panthers.
• The Texas A&M defense held the Panthers to an opponent season-low 48 points including only 19 in the second half of play.
• The Aggies scored 52 of their final 89 points in the paint and out-boarded the Panthers, 54-38. It marked a season-high in rebounds for Texas A&M. In fact, all but two players who entered the ballgame contributed to the rebounding column.
IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Texas A&M moved back into the top 10 in both national polls after going 2-0 at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic prior to the Christmas holiday break. The Aggies have defeated three top 25 opponents this season including No. 6 Duke, No. 19 California and No. 13 Arizona State. It marked only the second time in school history that A&M has beaten three top 25 teams in non-conference play next to doing so in 2008-09.
2009-10 ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 POLL
1. Connecticut (40)
2. Stanford
3. Notre Dame
4. Tennessee
5. Baylor
6. Ohio State
7. North Carolina
8. Duke
9. Georgia
10. Texas A&M
11. LSU
12. Florida State
13. Nebraska
14. Oklahoma
15. Xavier
16. Michigan State
17. Texas
18. Vanderbilt
19. Arizona State
20. Pittsburgh
21. Kansas
22. Wisconsin-Green Bay
23. Virginia
24. Georgia Tech
25. James Madison
2009-10 USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES TOP 25 POLL
1. Connecticut (31)
2. Stanford
3. Notre Dame
4. Tennessee
5. Baylor
6. Ohio State
7. North Carolina
8. Georgia
9. Duke
10. Texas A&M
11. Florida State
11. LSU
13. Xavier
14. Nebraska
15. Oklahoma
16. Vanderbilt
17. Arizona State
18. Pittsburgh
19. West Virginia
20. Wisconsin-Green Bay
21. Virginia
22. Texas
23. Syracuse
24. Michigan State
25. James Madison
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"New Mexico has been to the NCAA Tournament seven out of the last eight years. They are one of the best home teams in America as far as their record at The Pit. I just think it's a great environment for men's and women's basketball. New Mexico has always been more of a basketball school than a football school. Since Don Flanagan arrived there everything has changed. He is one of the best coaches out in the West. He gets his kids to play extremely hard and they play a lot of systems. They play within themselves well. The game will be very comparable to playing at TCU, same conference, same type of atmosphere. What makes their team so hard to beat - their fans are tough. They get on their own team when they aren't playing well. That's why it's called The Pit. It's a great home-court advantage. We will have to play our best road game of the season to come out of there with a win. In order to do so, we have to have balance inside and outside, like we had against Prairie View A&M. If we can get to the free throw line like we did against them, I like our chances. They will be a lot larger inside than Prairie View. This is the last of what I call, `our seven monster games' in non-conference play. We are taking these games as a dress rehearsal to get us ready for Big 12 Conference play. All three of these teams are different, but at the same time, they all have a great chance to get to the NCAA Tournament." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on New Mexico
"We know it's a hard place to play. The fans really get on their own team when they aren't playing well and are pretty aggressive. It will be a test for us to play in a hostile environment, but we've already played in hostile environments this season. We just have to go out and produce on both the offensive and defensive ends regardless of the atmosphere." - Texas A&M senior forward Damitria Buchanan on playing at The Pit
"Las Vegas was a good trip for us. We got two wins, but we definitely could have finished them off better. We had a big lead against Gonzaga and against Arizona State we had a 20-point lead. We could have stretched it out and made it easier on ourselves. That's something we need to focus on when we play at New Mexico. It will be another tough road matchup for us." - Texas A&M junior point guard Sydney Colson on the Aggies' last non-conference games prior to Big 12 Conference play
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 The Pit 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.