Dec. 3, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#7/7 TEXAS A&M (5-0) vs. RV/RV California (5-1)
Game #6
December 4, 2010 • 11:06 a.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,292)
at College Station, Texas
Television: Fox Sports Net
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Series is tied, 1-1
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The No. 7 Texas A&M women's basketball team (5-0) returns home Saturday, Dec. 4 for a nationally televised matchup against California (5-1) at Reed Arena. Tipoff between the Aggies and the Golden Bears is set for 11 a.m. on Fox Sports Net. Brenda VanLengen and Debbie Antonelli will call all the action for FSN. A&M is coming off of a 2-0 week in Cancun, Mexico, with victories over Arizona and Michigan. At the Cancun Thanksgiving Classic, 2010 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and team leading scorer Tanisha Smith hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:36 to play for the Aggies (6-0), who overcame a 17-3 second-half run by the Golden Bears (4-3) and a 49-34 rebounding deficit. Adaora Elonu scored 16 points, Smith finished with 14 and Colson had 13 and six assists. DeNesha Stallworth scored 19 points to go with nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks and Alexis Gray-Lawson added 18 points and four assists but shot 6-for-25 for Cal. The Bears trailed 44-35 early in the second half before their big run gave them a 52-47 lead, but they missed too many opportunities down the stretch and committed 21 turnovers. Cal out scrapped and outhustled Texas A&M for much of the game, but still lost another tough one to a ranked opponent. The Bears lost 69-49 at home to No. 8 Baylor on Nov. 22, then at third-ranked Ohio State 83-71 on Nov. 29. Boyle, in her fifth season, will have to wait at least another game to get her 100th victory at the school. It was the second-straight game the Aggies needed a late charge to win after they beat Southern Illinois 72-58 on Saturday at Cal's Haas Pavilion. Texas A&M came in as the fifth-highest scoring team in the country but shot only 36.1 percent Sunday and went 6-of-17 from 3-point range. The Aggies did make 18 of their 23 free throws. After Saturday's win, Blair called for more from Adams. She delivered when it counted in this one. Elonu scored four straight points to get Texas A&M within 52-51 with 3:58 to play and Adams' two free throws at the 3:18 mark gave her team the lead. Texas A&M committed only seven turnovers, including just one in the first half when the Aggies shot 46.9 percent despite a couple of cold stretches. Gray-Lawson matched Cal's career 3-point mark with 159, which she shares with Jennifer Self (1989-92). Cal crashed the boards to create second-chance opportunities in the first half, but was just 6-of-13 from the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes and 12-of-24 overall. The Aggies missed five of their first six 3-point tries before making four of their next six on the way to a 36-29 halftime lead.
IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Aggies started the season with their highest-ever preseason ranking at No. 8 in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll and the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. This week, A&M climbed to a No. 7 national ranking, achieving its highest ranking since a year ago on Dec. 1, 2009, when the team was ranked seventh in the Coaches Poll. A&M has now been ranked in the Coaches Poll for 83 consecutive weeks and 37 all-time in the top 10. The Aggies have been ranked for 47 consecutive weeks in the AP poll and 29 all-time in the top 10.
THE UNBEATENS AND HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Aggies are one of just 23 unbeaten Division I schools, seven of which, including A&M, are in the Big 12. The conference schools that remain unbeaten are Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Kansas State. What's more is A&M has won 39 straight non-conference home games, dating back to a 40-46 loss to Houston on 12/30/03. In addition, A&M has won 71 of its last 78 home games.
LEADING THE BIG 12
Texas A&M leads the Big 12 with a +9.2 turnover margin and averages the second-least turnovers per game. The Aggies hold the second-best rebounding margin (+14.4) and rank third with 11.8 steals per game. Preseason All-Big 12 selection Danielle Adams is second in the league in scoring with 21.0 points per game, while 2010 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection Sydney Carter ranks second with a 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio (25-7).
THE DISH ON THE AGGIES
While A&M is ranked in the top 10 nationally in several statistical categories, Danielle Adams and Sydney Carter are up there in a few of their own. Carter boasts the 10th-best assist-to-turnover ratio (3.6) in the country, while Adams is ranked 19th with 21.0 points per game and 23rd with a 58.6 field goal percentage.
POINTS GALORE
For the first time in program history, A&M totaled 80 points or more in its first four games of the season. With an average of 80.4 points per game and a 46.4 field goal percentage, the Aggies are ranked 23rd in the nation. They also get things done on the defensive end holding their opponents to 51.4 points per game with the 25th best scoring defense in the country. A&M's assist-to-turnover ratio is also ranked 21st.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is in his 26th overall season as a Division I head coach. He currently ranks in the top 20 in career victories (568) and in the top 30 by winning percentage (.706, 568-237) among active Division I coaches in the NCAA women's basketball record books.
• Blair is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 160 wins and a .684 winning percentage (160-74). He surpassed former head coach Lynn Hickey, who compiled 154 career victories from 1984-1994, with an 84-53 win over Portland State in the NCAA First Round on March 20, 2010 in Seattle, Wash.
• Blair is one of only four active Division I coaches (five all-time) to lead three different programs to the NCAA Tournament next to C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers, Joanne P. McCallie of Duke and Jim Foster of Ohio State. Blair previously coached at Stephen F. Austin (1985-93) and Arkansas (1993-03). Blair and Stringer are the only two coaches to guide three different teams to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• Both Texas A&M and Cal have signed three straight top recruiting classes. A&M signed the sixth-best recruiting class in the country in 2008-09, followed up by the fifth-best recruiting class in 2009-10 and the third-best recruiting class this season. This year's recruiting class, consisting of 6-foot-7 center Rachel Mitchell out of Atascocita High School in Houston, 5-foot-10 guard Tori Scott from John Ehret High School in Marrero, La., and 5-foot-8 guard Alexia Standish out of Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, will join the nationally ranked Aggies for the 2011-12 season.
MICHIGAN RECAP
• For the fifth straight game, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Carter, Maryann Baker, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams.
• The Aggies remained unbeaten against Michigan and moved to 3-0 in the all-time series. Eighteen points is the second-largest margin of victory in the series.
• A&M forced the Wolverines to make a season-high 22 turnovers, 12 of which came in the first half. U-M was also limited to a season-low three 3-pointers and an 18.8 percent shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
• Texas A&M dominated down low and nearly doubled Michigan in rebounding, 38-22. The Aggies grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, compared to just three from the Wolverines.
• Eleven different Aggies contributed in scoring A&M's 67 points.
• Senior Danielle Adams' 17 points extended her double-digit scoring streak to 14 games.
• Sophomore Adrienne Pratcher (Memphis, Tenn.) saw a career-best 20 minutes of action, scored two points and added a pair of assists.
• Sophomore Kristi Bellock matched her career-best with four rebounds in a career-high 11 minutes of action.
BLAIR NOTABLE QUOTABLES
On A&M taking it to the next level…
“Our juniors and seniors know what it takes to advance past the second round, which we've struggled with the past two years. We have a lot of goals this year. We're not going to accepts winning 20 games or advancing to the NCAA Tournament. We want to go a little bit further this year and to do that we have to play the schedule we're playing, make good decisions and be very good in practice, because you have to get better and keep improving.”
On the upcoming competition…
“Cal has had a top 10 recruiting class three years in a row and they do an excellent job there. We're going to have our hands full. Last year we beat them out there by a small margin. This is going to be a little bit of a comeback here, let's just see how we do. It is going to be a national television game and then on Monday night our game (at Duke) is on national television. How many times does that happen in non-conference games? We also have another one coming up in a couple weeks at Madison Square Garden against Rutgers. We're going to try to take full advantage of the national stage.”
On Sydney Colson…
“Sydney Colson's speed is unbelievable. Where you can tell the speed is after the other team scores. On one particular play, we threw it in and she passed up the other players, went in and got an easy layup. That is what we've been waiting for. I want her speed out there Saturday, because we're going to need it against California. I'm not sure there's a better person in the league that can run transition plays like she can.”
UP NEXT
The Aggies remain on the national stage Monday as they travel to Durham, N.C., for a top 10 matchup against No. 5 Duke as part of the Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic. The nationally televised game on ESPN2 is set to tip off at 6 p.m. (CT). Playing three games in six days, the Aggies then host Purdue back at Reed Arena on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.
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 AggieAthletics.com.