March 5, 2010
Kansas Game Notes in PDF Format 
#15/14 TEXAS A&M (21-7, 9-6) vs. KANSAS (15-13, 5-10)
Game #29
March 6, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
at Lawrence, Kan.
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Series Tied 7-7
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The 14th-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (21-7, 9-6) will close out the Big 12 Conference regular-season at Kansas (15-13, 5-10) on Saturday, March 6 at historic Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. (CT). A victory would give the Aggies their fifth consecutive 10-win campaign in league play under seventh-year head coach Gary Blair. A&M's yellow brick road to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship in Kansas City on March 11-14 has been a tough path this season having gone 1-4 in its first five road games of the season. The Aggies have countered that by winning five of their last six including road victories at Oklahoma State and Colorado. They have defeated their last two opponents by an average margin of 28.5 points a game and have shot 52.8 percent from the floor against CU and Oklahoma combined. A&M is playing some of its best basketball of the season and it couldn't have come at a better time, especially trying to finish out play strong in arguably the toughest women's basketball conference in the country with seven schools looking to dance on Selection Monday and two teams, Kansas and Texas Tech, still on the bubble. The Aggies are currently in a four-way tie for fourth place with Baylor, OSU and rival Texas in the latest league standings and remain in the hunt for one of four top seeds in the upcoming postseason tournament which will not be decided until the final regular-season games are played out on Sunday.
A LOOK AT KANSAS
Kansas was picked to finish tied for second in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll in the fall, but its season was hampered by an untimely injury to preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and All-America candidate Danielle McCray, a senior forward, who was averaging a team-leading 19.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game prior to a career-ending torn ACL that occurred in practice in early February. The Jayhawks have won only two games since her absence in the lineup - a 70-60 win over in-state rival Kansas State on Feb. 7 and a 79-72 road victory at Colorado on Feb. 16. A&M will be KU's fourth-straight top 25 opponent having last faced third-ranked Nebraska which resulted in a 77-52 road loss on March 3. Kansas, however, is the only league school to get within seven points or less versus the unbeaten Cornhuskers in a close 67-60 barn burner at Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 10. Last season, the Jayhawks were one of only two Big 12 teams next to Oklahoma still dancing past the month of March, reaching the championship game of the Postseason WNIT where they lost to eventual champion South Florida.
AGGIES IN BIG 12 FINALES
Texas A&M is 3-10 all-time in Big 12 regular-season finales, but has won three of its last four to close out the 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns on a high note. Saturday's contest will mark the sixth time in league history for the Aggies to finish the season on the road (1-5) and third time versus a Kansas squad next to a 71-60 loss on March 1, 2000 in Lawrence and a 75-62 setback on Feb. 28, 2001 in College Station. Of their three victories in league finales, only one occurred away from the friendly confines of Reed Arena - a 65-47 road victory at Oklahoma State on March 1, 2006 in Stillwater, Okla.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, So. (8.1 ppg, 3.4 apg)
#20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. (10.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. (15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. (8.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
#2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. (3.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
KANSAS
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#00 LaChelda Jacobs, G, 5-10, Sr. (2.0 ppg, 1.6 apg)
#20 Sade Morris, G, 5-11, Sr. (10.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg)
#13 Monica Engelman, G, 5-11, Fr. (7.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg)
#1 Aishah Sutherland, F, 6-2, So. (9.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
#21 Carolyn Davis, F, 6-3, Fr. (9.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M and Kansas are tied 7-7 in the all-time series. The Aggies have won the last six-straight meetings between the two schools since 2004 dating back to a 69-63 road victory in Lawrence on Feb. 21, 2004. They are also winners of their last four consecutive road trips to Allen Fieldhouse. Three of those last four outings have been close calls and decided by seven points or less. A&M is 4-2 when playing on the road at Kansas since both team's first-ever meeting in the series during the 1987-88 season. In fact, their road success at KU is the best against any Big 12 North school since the league's inception in 1996-97.
LAST SIX GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 69-63 (+6) on Feb. 21, 2004 in Lawrence, Kan.
W, 62-60 (+2) on Jan. 15, 2005 in College Station
W, 78-66 (+12) on Jan. 15, 2006 in Lawrence, Kan.
W, 64-53 (+11) on Feb. 3, 2007 in College Station
W, 58-51 (+7) on Jan. 26, 2008 in Lawrence, Kan.
W, 73-60 (+13) on Jan. 31, 2009 in College Station
KANSAS REWIND
No. 7 Texas A&M rallied back in the second half to beat Kansas, 73-60, before a season-high crowd of 7,143 on Jan. 31, 2009 at Reed Arena. Danielle Gant led the way for the Aggies with 17 of her team-high 21 points coming in the second half which included a key 11-0 run by A&M down the stretch. A three-pointer by Takia Starks with 8:25 left on the clock also sparked the second-half surge for the Aggies and evened the contest at 48-48. She ended the night with 17 points. A&M later matched its largest lead of the game with a jumper by Gant with 7:19 remaining in regulation, 53-51. The Aggies had led by two at the 18:17 minute mark of the first half. Kansas went into halftime with a 35-29 advantage after shooting 64 percent (16-of-25) from the floor in the first half. The Jayhawks only made six field goals out of the break as A&M turned up its defensive pressure. KU would go on to turn over the ball 26 times in the ballgame which resulted in 29 of A&M's 73 total points. They were led by Danielle McCray who scored an opponent season-high 24 points with seven rebounds in the loss.
DEFENDING THE THREE-BALL
The Aggies currently rank seventh nationally and tops in the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage defense holding opponents to 27.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc as of March 5. They have held five opponents this season including two of their last three to zero threes in a ballgame including No. 11 Oklahoma (0-for-8) on March 2, No. 14 Baylor twice (0-for-2) on Feb. 22 and (0-for-3) on Jan. 27, Texas Tech (0-for-8) on Jan. 23 and Prairie View A&M (0-for-6) on Dec. 28.
KANSAS REUNION
This weekend's trip to the Sunflower State begins a week-long stretch in which three Kansas City, Missouri, natives on the A&M roster will be in close proximity of home and will reunite with family and friends in attendance at the Kansas game as well as postseason tournament play at Municipal Auditorium. Tanisha Smith (Lincoln Prep), Danielle Adams (Lee's Summit High School) and Tyra White (Hickman Mills High School) were all recruited by Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State. The Kansas City trio are accounting for 54 percent of the team's scoring this season.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is an undefeated 9-0 lifetime versus Kansas in his 25 years as a Division I head coach. The Aggies are 6-0 against the Jayhawks since Blair's first season in Aggieland in 2003-04.
• The 2010 Senior Class comprised of Tanisha Smith and Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux from 2006-09. This year's Aggie senior class has never lost to Missouri and Colorado in Big 12 regular-season play nor has it against KU.
• Texas A&M men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon is a 1987 graduate of Kansas and played under former head coach Larry Brown. He played in four-straight NCAA tournaments, becoming the first KU player to do so. He later served as an assistant coach under Brown and helped the Jayhawks win a national championship title in 1988. Coach Turgeon, Coach Blair, a Texas Tech graduate, and current Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self, an Oklahoma State graduate, are the only three men's and women's basketball head coaches who coach against their alma mater in the Big 12. In addition, A&M is one of only three Big 12 schools next to rivals Baylor and Texas to have both of their men's and women's basketball teams currently ranked in the national polls.
OKLAHOMA RECAP
Texas A&M 78, Oklahoma 55
• For the fifth time this season and fifth-straight contest, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (4-1). The Aggies are now 4-1 in their last five ballgames in Big 12 Conference play.
• With the win, A&M has now won six out of the last nine meetings between the two Big 12 South rivals including the last five-straight contests played on their home court at Reed Arena. The Aggies' 23-point margin of victory was the second largest in the 40-game all-time series with Oklahoma and largest since the league's inception in 1996-97. A&M previously beat OU by 25 points in a 99-74 win at G. Rollie White Coliseum on Dec. 18. 1994.
• The Aggies compiled an 12-2 record at Reed Arena this season averaging 5,155 fans per game, which is the second-best single-season home attendance average behind 5,256 (14 games) during the 2008-09 campaign.
• Sydney Carter dished out a career-high seven assists with zero turnovers against Oklahoma. It was the seventh time this season in which she did not give up the ball versus an opponent. Carter also added 13 points.
• Adaora Elonu recorded her first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high tying 10 rebounds versus the Sooners. She has now scored in double figures in back-to-back contests.
• The A&M defense held Oklahoma to a season-low 0-8 shooting percentage from beyond the arc and top scorers Nyeshia Stevenson and Amanda Thompson to six and eight points respectively.
• The Aggies have now turned in back-to-back games scoring 40-or-more points at the half (43). They scored a league season-best 45 first-half points at Colorado on Feb. 27.
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"I really appreciate the coaches in this league. They make you better as a coach and as a team. The preparation by each team is outstanding. That's how we are getting so good, because we push each other. We take losing hard, but at the same time, we take winning well and very humble, also. Kansas has lost two starters including the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year in Danielle McCray. On Senior Night, you don't want to play against seniors. They have a couple of pretty good ones on that team including Sade Morris and LaChelda Jacobs who were good kids we looked at in high school and recruited. We know it won't be an easy game. We've won the last three times we've played up there since I've been here. I love going to Kansas, because of the tradition and atmosphere. It's a great arena and they are starting to draw bigger crowds (at Allen Fieldhouse). Momentum? It doesn't matter who we play now. I just hope whoever we do play, we don't play them in the first round in the Big 12 Tournament." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on playing in the Big 12 and on the road at Kansas
"I remember my freshman year, it was a pretty tough environment to play in. We know they have two major players out with ACL injuries, but they've had others step up - players who can take over a game, step into a starting role and do what their team needs them to do. They are a young team with a young post player and young guards. Hopefully, our veterans can go out there and take control of the game and make good decisions. We want to go out there and play hard and smart. A win is really important right now. It would give us a lot of confidence going into the Big 12 Tournament next week. Whether we get a bye or not, we are ready to play four games in a row, if we have to. I think at this point, we are mentally prepared for things a lot better. We have become more mentally tough as a team. We are much more focused and I know everyone's ready to make sure our seniors get to go out with a bang this year. We just need to make sure that we play these last few games with a lot of heart and intensity. We don't want to leave anything out on the floor. We want to give it all we have." - Texas A&M Junior Point Guard Sydney Colson on playing Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and finishing the regular season strong
"Kansas plays really good team defense. Their guards get out and pressure which is something they do really well. We just need to make sure we take care of the ball on offense. We are feeling good about ourselves right now, but I don't think we are satisfied yet. We haven't reached our peak and we know that we can play so much better and win so many more games. We just need to get better after every game and make sure we correct our mistakes. We are starting to come together and play as a team and everything is really starting to work for us." - Texas A&M Sophomore Point Guard Sydney Carter on Kansas and the team gaining momentum after back-to-back wins over Colorado and Oklahoma
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 Allen Fieldhouse 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.