March 14, 2010
Big 12 Championship Game Notes in PDF Format 
#4 TEXAS A&M (24-7) vs. #3 OKLAHOMA (23-9)
Big 12 Championship Finals
Game #32
March 14, 2010 • 12:30 p.m. (CT)
Municipal Auditorium (9,308)
at Kansas City, Mo.
Television: Fox Sports Net
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Oklahoma Leads 26-14
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.Big12Sports.com
GAME PREVIEW
Riding a five-game winning streak, the 11th-ranked and fourth-seeded Texas A&M women's basketball team (24-7) looks to carry that momentum into its third rematch of the season with 12th-ranked and third-seeded Oklahoma (23-9) in the title game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship on Sunday, March 14 at Municipal Auditorium. Tipoff between the Aggies and Sooners is set for 12:30 p.m. (CT). Just two years ago, fourth-seeded A&M fought off third-seeded Oklahoma State (64-59) the same site to earn the league's automatic bid which was a catalyst to the program's school-record 29-8 season and first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance. Sunday's matchup will mark only the second time in the league's 14-year history in which a No. 3 and No. 4 seed will meet in the championship game next to A&M's tournament run that included wins over Missouri and Iowa State in 2008. The Aggies are playing their best basketball of the season winning eight of their last nine contests in convincing fashion, beating teams in double figures with the exception of a six-point victory over Kansas State on Feb. 13. A&M is currently averaging 75.4 points per game and defeating opponents by an average margin of 15.5 points - a return to the team of old which won 14 of its first 15 games of the year and knocked off No. 6 Duke in its season opener (95-77) on Nov. 15 which had the nation buzzing with Final Four implications.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE
The Big 12 women's basketball championship game will be aired before a nationally-televised audience exclusively on Fox Sports Net. Play-by-play announcer Brent Stover, color analyst Debbie Antonelli and sideline reporter Brenda VanLengen will call the action live from Municipal Auditorium for the network.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
A win by either team could clinch them a No. 2 seed in the upcoming 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship 64-team field set to be announced on Selection Monday on March 15 at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. Oklahoma and Texas A&M have played the No. 1 and No. 4-toughest schedules in the nation according to the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings respectively. The Aggies have been ranked among the top 15 teams in the country in both national polls for most of the balance of the season with a league-leading 10-5 record against the top 25. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme projected A&M as a No. 2 seed in the Sacramento Regional playing the first-and-second rounds in Tempe, Ariz.
PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION
The Aggies advanced to the Big 12 championship game for the third consecutive year (2008, 2009, 2010) which ties a league postseason tournament record previous set by Iowa State in 1999, 2000 and 2001. A&M is one of only two league schools to make five-straight semifinal appearances next to the Cyclones in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. The Aggies are 1-1 all-time when playing in the finals and have only lost as the No. 4 seed (6-1). They also boast the most tournament wins of any league school (9-3) over the last five years along with Oklahoma (9-2). Ironically, A&M won its first-ever Big 12 postseason title in 2008 in Kansas City and became the first No. 4 seed in league history to do so. The Aggies are currently 10-12 all-time in Big 12 Championship play and made back-to-back championship game appearances in 2008 and 2009.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma is making its sixth all-time appearance in the Big 12 championship game and first since 2007. The Sooners are currently on a three-game winning streak including victories over Oklahoma State twice and Baylor (59-54) in the quarterfinals. Four of OU's starters are averaging double figures in scoring including a team-leading 16.9 points from junior point guard Danielle Robinson which ranks fifth-best in the league. Teammate Amanda Thompson adds 10.3 rebounds to her 13.0 points average for a double-double inside game. The Sooners were one of only two schools next to Nebraska to have two-or-more players honored on the All-Big 12 First Team with the combination of Robinson and Thompson. They are 8-9 this season against the top 25.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, So. (7.8 ppg, 3.5 apg)
#20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. (10.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
#22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. (15.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
#21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. (8.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
#2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. (3.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
OKLAHOMA
No. Name (2009-10 Stats)
#13 Danielle Robinson, G, 5-9, Jr. (16.9 ppg, 5.2 apg)
#1 Nyeshia Stevenson, G, 5-10, Sr. (14.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
#45 Jasmine Hartman, G, 5-10, So. (2.0 ppg, 1.3 rpg)
#21 Amanda Thompson, F, 6-1, Sr. (13.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg)
#34 Abi Olajuwon, C, 6-3, Sr. (10.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
INSIDE THE SERIES
Oklahoma holds a 26-14 advantage in the all-time series with Texas A&M. The Aggies, however, have won six out of the last nine meetings between the two Big 12 South rivals including a 78-55 rout of the Sooners on Senior Day in College Station on March 2. The Aggies' 23-point margin of victory was the second largest in the 40-game all-time series with OU and largest since the league's inception in 1996-97. Both teams split the regular-season series as A&M lost a 74-65 road decision on the Sooners' home court on Jan. 17 in Norman, Okla.
LAST NINE GAMES IN SERIES
W, 54-52 (+2) on Jan. 27, 2007 in Norman, Okla.
W, 78-68 (+10) on Feb. 10, 2007 in College Station
L, 56-68 (-12) on Feb. 12, 2008 in Norman, Okla.
W, 73-59 (+14) on March 6, 2008 in College Station
L, 71-59 (-12) on Jan. 18, 2009 in Norman, Okla.
W, 57-56 (+1) on Feb. 23, 2009 in College Station
W, 74-62 (+12) on March 14, 2009 in Oklahoma City
L, 65-74 (-9) on Jan. 17, 2010 in Norman, Okla.
W, 78-55 (+23) on March 2, 2010 in College Station
IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
The Aggies turned in their fifth-straight 20-win campaign under seventh-year head coach Gary Blair with a 95-61 road victory at Colorado on Feb. 27. It marked Blair's 19th overall in his 25 years as a Division I head coach at Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas and Texas A&M combined. Not only would one more win give the Aggies their fifth all-time season with 25-or-more wins next to 1978-79 (26-18), 2006-07 (25-7), 2007-08 (29-8) and 2008-09 (27-8), it would tie Blair with former head coach and current UTSA Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey, who is also a Division I men's basketball selection committee member, as the all-time winningest coach in school history with 154 career victories. Blair has put together a 153-73 (.677) record since his first season in Aggieland in 2003-04 and is the winningest coach in school history by percentage. Hickey compiled her school record over the course of 10 seasons from 1984-94, while Blair is in his seventh season.
AGGIE STARS OF THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Tanisha Smith have combined for 64 percent of A&M's scoring production in this weekend's championship tournament.
BATTLE OF THE GUARDS
There's no question that some of the best point guards in the nation hail from the Big 12. Texas A&M currently ranks among the top 25 teams in the nation in assists per game (16.1) and in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.04) due to the floor leadership of its "Two Syds" in sophomore point guard Sydney Carter and junior point guard Sydney Colson. Both rank second and third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio which places them among the top 25 NCAA leaders in the category - Carter (2.28) and Colson (2.02). Meanwhile, OU is lead by its floor general Danielle Robinson who is ranked in the top 30 nationally and third in the Big 12 in assists per game (5.2 avg).
STREAK BREAKERS
A&M's win over unbeaten Nebraska in the Big 12 semifinals on Saturday will go down as one of the greatest games in school history behind the program's NCAA Elite Eight loss to eventual national champion Tennessee as well as its victory over Duke in the NCAA Sweet 16 to advance to the Oklahoma City Regional final in 2008. The Aggies and their signature in-your-face defense have been known to cause a ruckus on the court over the last five years in relation to causing upsets and breaking streaks. A&M snapped Nebraska's Big 12 record 30-game winning streak and handed the Huskers their first loss of the 2009-10 season. Oklahoma has also fallen victim to the Aggies three times which were pivotal markers in the program's history. The Aggies upset then-No. 2 Oklahoma on a last-second and game-winning drive by all-time leading scorer Takia Starks, 57-56, on Feb. 23, 2009 in College Station in addition to knocking off the top-seeded Sooners, 74-62, in the Big 12 semifinals in Oklahoma City on March 14, 2009. Three years ago, A&M ended then No. 6-ranked Oklahoma's 26-game Big 12 Conference winning streak with a 54-52 upset on Jan. 27, 2007 in Norman.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 8-12 lifetime versus Oklahoma in his 25 years as a Division I head coach. Six of his seven career victories against the Sooners have come during his time in Aggieland.
• The A&M and OU series has developed into a heated rivalry between two Big 12 powerhouses who have laid claim to a combined six Big 12 trophies since 2006 and three of the last four consecutive postseason tournament titles. The Aggies won the regular-season title in 2007 and postseason tournament title in 2008. In fact, OU and A&M rank No. 1 and No. 2 for the most regular-season Big 12 games won in the last four-year period. The Sooners lead with 50 regular-season victories followed by the Aggies with 45 since the 2006-07 campaign.
• A&M was the most successful league school versus Oklahoma with a 5-4 mark during the Courtney Paris Era and one of only three Big 12 squads to win in Norman in the All-American's four-year career next to Baylor (2007) and Texas (2008). The Lady Bears and Longhorns managed only two overall wins in the Paris Era.
• Current Texas A&M graduate assistant and former two-time Associated Press All-American honorable mention selection A'Quonesia Franklin (2005-08), also known as `Aqua' to fans, was one of five seniors including Morenike Atunrase, Patrice Reado, Katy Pounds and LaToya Gulley who hoisted up the Aggies' first and only Big 12 postseason championship trophy in 2008. She currently serves as a color analyst for A&M women's basketball radio broadcasts this season. Franklin played professional ball for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs and Seattle Storm after graduation. She was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team in 2008.
BIG 12 QUARTERFINALS RECAP
Texas A&M 80, Nebraska 70
• For the eighth time this season and eighth consecutive ballgame, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Tanisha Smith, Damitria Buchanan (7-1).
• With the win, the Aggies claimed its sixth victory in the 20-game all-time series with Nebraska. A&M has won five of the last seven meetings between the two schools. They have now won eight of their last nine contests of the season. A&M also earned its 105th victory over the course of the last four seasons under head coach Gary Blair which is the most victories compiled in a four-year span in program history.
• A&M was only the third team this season to lead Nebraska at halftime next to Arkansas-Little Rock (23-22) on Nov. 27 and Kansas State (45-38) on March 6. The Aggies' 19-point lead with 5:06 remaining in the second half was the Huskers' largest deficit in a game this season.
• Nebraska marked the first unbeaten team A&M has defeated in four all-time tries next to two prior meetings against eventual national champion Texas during the 1985-86 campaign and NU earlier this season in a 71-60 road loss on Feb. 6 in Lincoln, Neb.
• Danielle Adams scored 20 of her game-high 22 points in the second half of play. It marked her sixth 20-point game of her career. She is currently on a six-game double-digit scoring streak.
• Sydney Carter brought down a career-high nine of the team's 46 rebounds versus Nebraska. She was joined by nine boards apiece from Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams.
• Damitria Buchanan made two of the team's five blocked shots in the ballgame which gives her 84 for her career which ranks seventh all-time in the A&M record books.
AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"Right now, both teams are just playing with a lot of emotion and momentum. It's house money. Whoever wins has a chance to get a No. 2 seed, while the other team will get a No. 3 seed. Two of the four teams who were playing the best basketball at the end of the year were OU and Texas A&M along with Nebraska and Baylor when they were healthy. This league gets you ready for the NCAA Tournament. It doesn't necessarily tire you out. You learn so much by playing competition like this. You learn what works, you learn how to tweak a few things in your offense and your in-bounds plays. You really have to work as coaches, because the preparation is there. The game is always decided by point guard play. (Oklahoma point guard) Danielle Robinson was a little bit stronger than (Oklahoma State point guard) Andrea Riley in the end. Oklahoma had more scoring options with four and Oklahoma State only had two options. Give Oklahoma State a lot of credit. They had a great tournament run. They played three-straight ballgames, so there's not much left. Riley needs to go ice that arm of hers and get ready for the NCAA Tournament." - Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on playing Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game after beating Bedlam rival Oklahoma State in the semifinals
"I love my program. I love my team. I love the commitment from my university that they've given me and my assistants to be successful. I think we are one of the best `unknown' secrets across the country. They (fans and media) know who `Gary Blair' is, because I've been in the game so long, but they don't know my kids. They don't know a `Danielle Adams' or a `Tanisha Smith' or a `Sydney Carter' or `Sydney Colson'. It's time we concentrate on those kids more than who is coaching right now. These kids have earned it. They've worked hard for us. They are getting better and better as a basketball team. We will come in totally relaxed, play our game and I promise you one thing, it will go down-to-the-wire. I don't think either one of us can blow the other one away." - Coach Blair on being one of only two Big 12 teams in league history to reach the postseason championship game three times in a row and the Oklahoma matchup
"Of course, the Nebraska win makes us feel great, but we're not satisfied. We really want a Big 12 Championship ring. I don't have one and I really want to get one for our seniors and especially, Tanisha (Smith), Danielle (Adams) and Tyra (White), because this is their hometown. We've said before, we just want to hold it down for them. We're not satisfied yet. We have a game plan to execute and finish it out. We're just looking forward to playing OU." - Texas A&M sophomore point guard Sydney Carter on moving on to the Big 12 championship game
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 Municipal Auditorium 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.