Jan. 3, 2010
Lamar Game Notes in PDF Format 
#10/10 TEXAS A&M (11-1) vs. LAMAR (10-3)
Game #13
January 4, 2010 • 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 13-9
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Video at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The 10th-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (11-1) will close out its non-conference slate and ring in the New Year with Lamar (10-3) on Monday, Jan. 4 at Reed Arena. Tipoff between the Aggies and Lady Cardinals is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT). A&M is coming off a benchmark 84-69 road victory at New Mexico on Dec. 30 and ready to start the year 2010 off on a similar note. The Aggies are currently on a four-game winning streak since dropping their only loss of the season by two points at TCU on Dec. 12. They hope their non-conference resume against eight potential NCAA Tournament teams, including Lamar, pays off dividends as Big 12 Conference play commences this weekend at archrival Texas on Jan. 9 in the state capital. A&M is one of the top teams in the country and in the league right now in scoring offense (82.8), field goal percentage (49.2), three-point field goal percentage (43.7) and assists per game (18.8). One last test from Lamar will hopefully get the Aggies prepared and ready for their first five league games which includes three tough road blocks at UT, Oklahoma and Baylor.
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, Jan. 4 as the Aggies take on Lamar 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.
LADY CARDINALS WATCH
Lamar, picked to win the West Division title in the Southland Conference, is off to one of its best starts in the last decade under third-year head coach Larry Tidwell. The Lady Cardinals improved to 10-3 on the season with a recent 88-41 win over LSU-Shreveport on Jan. 2. They are 3-3 when playing on the road this year with tough losses at A&M's 2009 NCAA Second Round opponent Minnesota (84-45) on Nov. 15 to open up the season, followed by setbacks to fellow Big 12 foes Baylor (87-65) on Nov. 29 and Texas Tech (70-56) on Dec. 8. Three players on the Lamar roster were tabbed to the preseason All-SLC team including second team selection Jenna Plumley, who is a junior transfer from Oklahoma. In her last appearance at Reed Arena, Plumley hit a trio of three-pointers with 11 points and six rebounds in 40 minutes of action for the Sooners in a 73-59 loss to the Aggies on March 6, 2008.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Jr. (7.7 ppg, 5.2 apg)
#20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. (10.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. (17.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#23 Danielle Adams, F/C, 6-1, Jr. (14.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
#2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. (3.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
LAMAR
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#11 Jenna Plumley, G, 5-4, Jr. (12.5 ppg, 6.4 apg)
#5 Kalis Loyd, F, 6-1, Fr. (13.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
#12 Ashley Crawford, F, 5-11, Sr. (6.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
#34 Brittney Williams, F, 5-10, Sr. (8.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
#25 Trashanna Smith, F, 5-11, Jr. (8.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg)
INSIDE THE SERIES
Texas A&M leads 13-9 in the all-time series with Lamar. The Aggies have won the last five-straight games in the series including eight of the last nine meetings between the two schools. Both teams last met 15 years ago with A&M defeating the Lady Cardinals, 111-83, at G. Rollie White Coliseum on Nov. 15, 1995, in College Station. The Aggies hold an 8-1 advantage when playing Lamar at home.
AGGIES IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The Aggies are 72-13 (.847) in non-conference play in the Gary Blair Era (2003-Present). In addition, they have won 41 consecutive non-conference games at Reed Arena since a 92-48 victory over Texas State on Jan. 3, 2004. A&M needs one more win to turn in its third non-conference season with 12-or-more victories in Coach Blair's seven overall seasons in Aggieland.
Gary Blair ERA NON-CONFERENCE RECORD
2003-04: 7-4
2004-05: 9-1
2005-06: 11-2
2006-07: 10-2
2007-08: 12-2
2008-09: 12-1
2009-10: 11-1
Totals: 72-13 (.847)
PAINT BY NUMBERS
Texas A&M's inside presence has been dominant this season behind the paint work of senior co-captain Damitria Buchanan (4.7 rpg), junior Danielle Adams (4.2 rpg) and sophomores Adaora Elonu (3.9 rpg) and Kelsey Assarian (3.7 rpg). The Aggie artisans are providing a big splash of color contributing 42 percent of the team's rebounding production as well as six occasions this season in which A&M has turned in 40-or-more points in the paint against opponents including Duke (45), Rice (47), SFA (44), North Texas (49) and New Mexico (40). The Aggies registered a season-high 52 of their 89 points in the paint versus Prairie View A&M on Dec. 28. Adams (14.6 ppg) and Elonu (9.4 ppg) are the team's second-and fourth-leading scorers respectively.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is an undefeated 6-0 lifetime versus Lamar in his extensive 25-year coaching career. Ironically, his first collegiate win as a Division I head coach at Stephen F. Austin was a 76-58 victory over Lamar five games into the 1985-86 season at an Oklahoma State-hosted tournament in Stillwater, Okla. Blair, who was previously an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech from 1980-85, was 0-4 to start his first year off with losses to Texas A&M in his first collegiate game followed by Texas Tech, Creighton and host OSU. Ever since then, Blair has amassed 548 career victories to date which ranks 19th all-time among active Division I head coaches.
• Coach Blair and Lamar head coach Larry Tidwell have known each other since the mid-70's through the high school and college coaching ranks. Blair was the girls basketball head coach at Dallas' South Oak Cliff High School from 1973-80, while Tidwell spent 12 years as a girls basketball head coach in Frisco, Lexington, Schulenburg and Mexia, Texas. Both worked as assistants under legendary head coach Sonja Hogg at Louisiana Tech and Baylor respectively. Blair and Tidwell are also golf buddies off the court and have participated in numerous Texas Association of High School Basketball Coaches tournaments over the years. Blair speaks highly of Tidwell, calling him one of the, `funniest people I know in all of coaching. Larry has a great sense of humor. Once you get him going, it's like you're watching an episode of Saturday Night Live."
• Lamar is one of nine Lone Star State schools and one of two opponents hailing from the Southland Conference on this year's schedule. A&M is 4-1 on its tour of Texas with victories over Rice, Stephen F. Austin, North Texas and Prairie View A&M and a loss to TCU. The Aggies will also face Texas on Jan. 9 and Feb. 20, Texas Tech on Jan. 23 and Feb. 10 and Baylor on Jan. 27 and Feb. 22.
NEW MEXICO RECAP
Texas A&M 84, New Mexico 69
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting five of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (1-0). It marked only the second career start for Adams and third for Carter.
• Danielle Adams scored all of her game-high 19 points in the second half of play. She has reached double figures in 10 of 11 games played this season.
• With the victory, the Aggies improved to 2-0 in the all-time series with New Mexico. It marked Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair's first career win at The Pit after going 0-1 at the venue as the head coach at Arkansas.
• For the game, the Aggies shot 55.4 percent from the floor including a 70.4 percent accuracy in the second half against the Lobos (19-of-27). They have now shot better than 50 percent on six occasions this season.
• The Aggies remain an undefeated 3-0 when playing in the state of New Mexico. They previously beat Ole Miss and Southern Utah in a holiday tournament hosted by New Mexico State during the 1995-96 season.
• Danielle Gant who went 10-for-10 against Missouri on Jan. 10, 2009 and former player Lisa Jordon who went 9-for-9 versus Oregon State on Dec. 5, 1987. White is currently on a six-game double-digit scoring streak.
• The Aggies scored an opponent season-high 84 points when playing New Mexico at The Pit, which was the second-most points scored by a UNM opponent this season. Coming into the game, the Lobo defense had only allowed an average of 61.8 points per game to the opposition.
• For the second-straight game, A&M produced 40-or-more points in the paint against their opponents. The Aggies went inside for 40 versus New Mexico and 52 against Prairie View A&M on Dec. 28.
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"Everyone has given us a great run for it in non-conference play and I expect the same thing from Lamar. Larry (Tidwell) is one of the pioneers of the game in the state of Texas. He had to wait late in his career for a head coaching job, but he is still coaching and has down an outstanding job at Lamar. He is doing it by recruiting well and coaching kids up. He has some very good foreign contacts and was responsible for recruiting Helena Sverrisdottir at TCU as an assistant coach to Coach (Jeff) Mittie. I want to see him go the NCAA Tournament this year, because he deserves it. He is very good about giving back to the game. I'm happy for him, except for when we play them on Monday night (laughs). Jenna Plumley had a great game here two years ago, and (Sydney) Colson and (Sydney) Carter will have their hands full with her." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on Lamar and head coach Larry Tidwell
"To play the schedule that we've played in the non-conference season - it is getting us ready for conference play. We've had a mixture of games where we were able to get our freshmen some playing time. We've had a great mixture of teams that have a chance of advancing to the NCAA Tournament. We will play two of the better schools in the Southland Conference in SFA and Lamar. Southern Illinois is probably the only opponent that hasn't done as well in non-conference play. Our RPI will be very high, not just because we win games and our record is 11-1, but because of our opponents' strength of schedule. Each game gives you a different look and different preparation. Something we have been working on in practice are end-of-game situations and making adjustments. We can't always worry about ourselves. We have to sit there and think like our opponents and how they will defend us. This is what non-conference play is good for, to get us ready for the Big 12. You can't put everything into the game at hand. We are also studying for Texas and Iowa State, our first two conference games, which will be completely different matchups. You better be prepared and work ahead, instead of crash coursing after a ballgame." - Coach Blair on non-conference play in preparation for the Big 12 Conference season ahead
"We should match up pretty well with Lamar on Monday night. Our four and five players are the same height and there is not a speed factor in the post, so size wise, we should match up perfectly. As far as the point, (Jenna) Plumley is the type of player who likes to move a lot and run their offense. She is the key to the their team and getting their offense setup. She is similar to Syd (Colson) in transition and is one of those fearless players. She likes to push the ball, is not afraid to take a shot anywhere on the floor and sets up screens. We have to be ready to move tomorrow and play `keep her in front of us' defense. This game, depending how we play it defensively and offensively, will really help us going into the Texas game on Saturday. Hopefully, it will give us confidence and jump start our team chemistry." - Texas A&M sophomore point guard Sydney Carter on Lamar leading into Big 12 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 Reed Arena alongside color analyst Tap Bentz on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.