Feb. 5, 2010
Nebraska Game Notes in PDF Format 
#12/10 TEXAS A&M (16-4, 4-3) vs. #4/4 NEBRASKA (20-0, 7-0)
Game #21
February 6, 2010 • Noon (CT)
Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,595)
Lincoln, Neb.
Television: Fox Sports Net
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Nebraska Leads 13-7
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The 10th-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (16-4, 4-3) begins a tough two-game road swing with its first stop scheduled at fourth-ranked and undefeated Nebraska (20-0, 7-0) in what is expected to be a top 10 showdown between two defensive-minded ballclubs on Saturday, Feb. 6 at noon (CT) in Lincoln, Neb. The Aggies are currently tied for fifth at the midway point of the Big 12 Conference regular-season slate. They refueled their engines toward a strong finish in the league race by claiming a 65-55 victory over Missouri on Feb. 3 which snapped a two-game losing skid, Just a year ago, the Cornhuskers, minus leading scorer Kelsey Griffin, were the upset-minded squad as A&M was ranked No. 4 in the country in their last meeting on the hardwood. This year, the Aggies have added a high-powered offense to their normal defensive repertoire averaging 77.8 points per game with one of the deepest rosters in the Big 12. They will be searching for only their second all-time win in Lincoln in nine tries since the league's inception in 1996-97. A&M has not won a true road game since its conference opener at rival Texas on Jan. 9 in Austin and will face Big South foe Texas Tech up next on Feb. 10 in Lubbock, Texas.
WATCH IT LIVE
Texas A&M will appear on national television for the sixth time this season with play-by-play announcer Brent Stover and color analyst Brenda VanLengen calling the action live from the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Fox Sports Net. The game being carried nationally on Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Detroit (Plus), Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports Houston, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports North, FSN Northwest, FSN Rocky Mountain, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Wisconsin, Fox Sports West, Comcast Bay Area (Plus), Comcast Philadelphia and MSG Plus.
SCOUTING THE HUSKERS
Nebraska is currently on its longest winning streak in school history at 20 games which is the second-longest active streak in the nation, trailing only defending national champion Connecticut's 61-game streak. The Huskers and Huskies are the only two remaining Division I schools in the country who remain undefeated on the season. They have won their last 15 straight home games including a recent 88-67 blowout of No. 10 Oklahoma State on Feb. 3. NU currently has four players averaging double figures in scoring including two-time All-Big 12 performer Kelsey Griffin (19.3 ppg) who redshirted last season with a foot injury. Nebraska has beaten each of its league foes this season by double digits, except for Iowa State (-8) and Baylor (-9).
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#51 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, So. (7.1 ppg, 3.3 apg)
#20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. (10.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. (15.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. (8.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
#23 Danielle Adams, F/C, 6-1, Jr. (16.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
NEBRASKA
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#00 Lindsey Moore, G, 5-9, Fr. (4.5 ppg, 2.0 apg)
#22 Yvonne Turner, G, 5-8, Sr. (12.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
#24 Dominique Kelley, G, 5-7, Jr. (12.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
#23 Kelsey Griffin, F, 6-2, Sr. (19.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg)
#40 Cory Montgomery, F, 6-2, Sr. (12.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Nebraska leads 13-7 in the all-time series with Texas A&M. However, the Aggies have won four out of the last five meetings between the two schools. They are 1-7 all-time when playing on the road in Lincoln. A&M's wins in its current five-game stretch includes a 73-64 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2006 Big 12 Championship in Dallas and the Aggies' first-ever road win at Nebraska (69-50) on Feb. 11, 2006.
LAST FIVE GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 86-43 (+43) on Feb. 8, 2009 in College Station
L, 60-73 (-13) on Jan. 23, 2008 in Lincoln, Neb.
W, 66-65 (+1) on Jan. 24, 2007 in College Station
W, 73-64 (+9) on March 8, 2006 in Dallas, Texas
W, 69-50 (+19) on Feb. 11, 2006 in Lincoln, Neb.
NEBRASKA REPLAY
No. 4 Texas A&M used a balanced scoring attack in an 86-43 rout of Nebraska on Feb. 8, 2009 at Reed Arena. Ten players contributed to the scoring column in A&M's largest margin of victory (+43) against a Big 12 Conference opponent in school history. It also marked Nebraska's lowest-scoring production of the season and its fewest points ever scored in the 20-game series between the two league rivals. Tanisha Smith added 11. The Aggies sought revenge after committing an uncharacteristic 30 turnovers in a 73-60 loss in Lincoln on Jan. 23, 2008. This time around, the A&M defense forced the Cornhuskers to a season-high 28 turnovers. Nebraska opened up the game on a quick 4-0 run, but A&M countered by scoring the next 14-of-18 combined points by both teams. The Aggies took their first lead of the game as Danielle Gant converted a fast break layup off of a turnover by Cory Montgomery with 13:53 left in the half, 8-6. A&M never looked back. The Aggies shot a season-high 61.0 percent knocking down 36-of-59 attempts from the floor. It marked the first time A&M has shot better than 60 percent since a 63.8 shooting percentage against McNeese State on Nov. 21, 2006 and only the second time in the new millennium. Gant and Colson each had nine, while A&M's bench contributed 47 of the team's points. Nebraska was paced by leading scorer Montgomery with 15 points and six rebounds.
AGGIES AGAINST UNBEATENS
The last time Texas A&M faced an undefeated team so late in conference play, none of the current players on the Aggie roster were even born. In fact, Saturday's game will be the third time overall in program history. Former greats Lisa Langston, Lisa Jordon and Donna Roper were the Maroon and White hardwood stars of the time under former head coach Lynn Hickey. The Aggies would meet unbeaten Texas, led by point guard and current Kansas State associate head coach Kamie Ethridge and coached by Hall of Famer Jody Conradt, twice during the 1985-86 campaign of the old Southwest Conference. A&M faced a 12-0 Longhorn squad in SWC play on Jan. 14, 1986 in College Station (L, 59-73) and a 22-0 squad (L, 64-77) on Feb. 15, 1986 in Austin, Texas. Texas would go on to win the national championship title with a perfect 34-0 record.
A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Saturday's matchup with Nebraska will mark the first-ever meeting with both schools ranked in the top 10. It will also be only the third time A&M will take on a ranked Huskers squad next to No. 21 Nebraska in 1998 (L, 74-88) in Lincoln and No. 25 Nebraska (W, 66-65) in 2007 in College Station. The Aggies are 9-6 when playing a top 10 team since the 2006-07 season. They last beat a top-five ranked opponent, then No. 3 Oklahoma (W, 74-62), in the semifinals of the 2009 Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City on March 14, 2009.
LOOKING AT THE RPI
The Aggies are currently rated No. 8 in The Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings with the nation's 10th toughest schedule as of Feb. 4. A&M also remains ranked in the top 10 despite having lost three of its last five ballgames to ranked teams in Oklahoma, Baylor and Oklahoma State, showing why the Big 12 is the highest-rated women's basketball conference in the nation with seven ranked member schools ahead of the SEC and Big Ten. All seven teams are currently rated No. 19 or higher with Nebraska at No. 3.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 4-3 lifetime versus Nebraska in his 25 years as a Division I head coach and has only won once in Lincoln with the Aggies in 2006. Blair and Nebraska head coach Connie Yori were both hired by Texas A&M Director of Athletics Bill Byrne. Byrne was previously the AD at Nebraska from 1992-02 and hired Yori away from her alma mater Creighton in 2002, while Byrne hired Blair away from Arkansas in 2003 in his first season in Aggieland.
• Coach Blair and Coach Yori are one of only three Big 12 head coaches with 20+ years of service to the women's game. Blair is in his 25th overall season with career stops at Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas and Texas A&M, while Yori is in her 20th overall season at Creighton and Nebraska combined. Both have matching career Big 12 victories (56) under their belt, but Blair one season less than Yori's eight with the Huskers. They are joined by Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly who is in his 22nd overall season.
• Three sets of families will make the three-hour drive from Kansas City to Lincoln to watch their daughters play Nebraska on Saturday including Andrea Kelley, mother of Tanisha Smith, Tiffany Hill, mother of Danielle Adams, and Betty White, mother of Tyra White. Off the court, Smith and White are cousins (something they learned in college) and grew up as the only girls in their immediate family with five brothers and three brothers respectively.
• The Aggies will face three Big 12 North schools in their next four games of the season. Last year, A&M went 5-1 against the northern division and are 2-0 this season with a 68-44 win over Iowa State on Jan. 13 and a recent 65-55 victory over Missouri on Feb. 3. The Cyclones were the only Big 12 North foe to get past the Aggies during the 2008-09 campaign.
MISSOURI RECAP
Texas A&M 65, Missouri 55
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams (1-0). Carter made only her fifth career start and only her third in Big 12 Conference play.
• With the victory, the Aggies won their sixth-straight meeting with Missouri to improve to 9-7 in the all-time series between the two schools. The win snapped back-to-back losses against league competition and marked their second versus a Big 12 North foe this season next to a 68-44 win over No. 20 Iowa State on Jan. 13.
• Danielle Adams registered her 17th double figure game of the season with a game-high 19 points against Missouri, the school she originally signed with out of high school, but did not qualify academically. Adams has reached double digits in all but one Big 12 game played this year.
• Tanisha Smith made a career-high seven steals in a season-high 39 minutes of action versus the Tigers. She also matched Adams with a game-high 19 points which marked her 16th double-digit game of the season and first in double figures in the last three ballgames. She attempted her first collegiate dunk with 30 seconds left in regulation after making her seventh steal of the contest on a fast break.
• Starting point guard Sydney Colson did not play against Missouri due to a stress reaction injury in her left fibula. It was her first missed game since playing in all 91-straight contests since her freshman campaign in 2007-08.
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"Nebraska is having a magical year right now. Kelsey Griffin is back from her injury after redshirting last season. They have veteran guards and have a freshman point guard (Lindsey Moore) leading them. They have juniors and seniors at every other position. They are just playing well, having fun and making good decisions on the basketball court. Are they beatable? You betcha. At the same time, we have to play our game and do a little bit better on the road than what we did at Baylor and Oklahoma. We let the crowd get into us and got off to poor starts. We have to get off to a good start, like we did against Texas in Austin - get the confidence going, the transition game going and make smart decisions on the defensive end." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on Nebraska
"I've been lucky enough to be able to work with two of the finest women's basketball coaches in the Big 12 Conference in Gary Blair and Connie Yori. When I was athletics director at Nebraska, it took quite an effort to convince Connie to come 45 miles west to Lincoln from Omaha. I courted her by sending her flowers and candy trying to convince her it was the right thing to do and I'm sure glad we were able to do so. She's done an absolutely incredible job at Nebraska. I didn't offer Gary any flowers or candy, but I think a good steak and the fact he could come home to Texas, was enough to bring him to Aggieland from Arkansas. He has done a fabulous job with our program. Both coaches are outstanding. They are not only great people, but they stand up for and do the right thing when it comes to taking care of their student-athletes. I am so pleased to be associated with them." - Texas A&M Director of Athletics Bill Byrne on his hiring of Gary Blair in 2003 and Connie Yori in 2002
"The win on Wednesday, definitely gave us some momentum going into our game against Nebraska. It's going to be such a dog fight, because they are undefeated and we really want to give them our all. To get wins in these next two road games (at Nebraska and Texas Tech) are very important to us, especially for our confidence leading into the remaining balance of our schedule which includes home games against Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas. We have to rebound against Nebraska. We lost the Oklahoma State game at the end, because of our lack of rebounding. We need to attack the rim and not settle for jump shots which will be the main keys. Nebraska is going to be really feisty on defense, the same way we play on defense. Their team chemistry is very good and they play together as a unit. We need to match that same chemistry and intensity on Saturday." - Texas A&M sophomore point guard Sydney Carter on the Missouri win leading into the two-game road swing
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 Bob Devaney Sports Center 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.