Dec. 5, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
GAME PREVIEW
Fresh off of a 74-58 win over California on Saturday, the No. 7 Texas A&M women's basketball team (6-0) will travel to defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion and fifth-ranked Duke (8-0) in the ninth annual Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic on Monday, Dec. 6. The much-anticipated non-conference showdown between the Aggies and the Blue Devils will be televised live nationally on ESPN2 from Cameron Indoor Stadium at 6 p.m. (CT). Pam Ward and Carolyn Peck will call the action. A&M makes its debut in the Jimmy V Classic, while Duke is making its fourth all-time appearance in the event. Both teams will be facing their first ranked opponent this season. The Aggies are 1-0 on the road this season with an 80-40 win at Rice, while the Blue Devils are 3-0 at home.
SCOUTING DUKE
The fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils are coming off of a four-game road swing and last won, 59-51 at Wisconsin on Thursday, Dec. 2. One of the nation's premier women's basketball programs, Duke as made 12 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, eight Elite Eight appearances and four Final Four appearances since 1992. Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Joanne P. McCallie, the Blue Devils won the 2010 ACC Championship and are led by senior guard Jasmine Thomas with 15.0 points and 4.0 assists per game. Karima Christmas is Duke's second-leading scorer who averages 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Six-foot-five senior center, Krystal Thomas leads the team with 8.8 rebounds per game.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
51 Tanisha Smith as a timeout was called. The win improved Texas A&M's all-time record against the Blue Devils to 3-0. This was the first meeting between the schools since a 77-63 win by the Aggies in the round of 16 in the 2008 NCAA tournament. Texas A&M got 19 points from Smith, 17 from Colson and Damitria Buchanan had seven rebounds and tied an A&M record with seven blocks. Jasmine Thomas had a career-high 26 points for the Blue Devils and Allison Vernerey scored 11. Adams had five rebounds and a block and made three 3-pointers. This game was a much tougher test for the Blue Devils after they beat tiny Houston Baptist 104-35 in their opener Friday night. Against the Aggies they were foiled by poor shooting as they made 26 of 78 shots while Texas A&M was 33 of 58. Texas A&M had nine 3-pointers while Duke made four of 20. The Aggies were up by 13 points when Duke finally got going and went on a 11-1 run to get within 55-52 on a jumper by Thomas with about 14 minutes left. But Adams and the Aggies thwarted the rally to cruise to the win. Texas A&M was up by 15 points before scoring six straight points thanks to a missed layup and two turnovers by Duke to make it 82-61 with about 6 minutes remaining. The Aggies led by 10 points at halftime and five quick points by Colson sandwiched around a layup by Duke's Joy Cheek stretched the lead to 50-37 early in the second half. Texas A&M took a 13-12 lead with about 12 minutes in the first half when Carter hit both free throws after Karima Christmas was called for an intentional foul after pushing her down from behind on a fast break. That was the start of an 8-0 run that pushed Texas A&M's lead to 19-12 about 10 minutes before halftime. Duke cut the lead to four points before the Aggies went on another 8-0 run fueled by two 3-pointers by Carter to make it 31-19 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The Blue Devils got within five a couple of minutes later but Texas A&M outscored them 10-5 to lead 45-35 at halftime.
AGAINST THE ACC
The Aggies are 4-4 all-time against opponents hailing from the Atlantic Coast Conference including Duke (3-0), Florida State (1-1), Miami (0-2) and Wake Forest (0-1). A&M has faced an ACC school in each of the last four seasons.
AGGIE TOP 5 HITS
Texas A&M is 6-20 all-time against top 5 teams, and is 3-6 against the same competition when the Aggies are ranked. A&M and Duke have met as a pair of top 10 teams one other time on March 30, 2008, when the Aggies won 77-83 to advance to their first NCAA Elite Eight. Texas A&M has had eight all-time top 10 matchups and is 2-6 in those contests. A&M went 1-1 last season versus top 5 competition by defeating Nebraska, 80-70, in the Big 12 Championship semifinals and falling to Nebraska earlier in the season, 60-71.
MORE ON THE JIMMY V CLASSIC
While the Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic is on Monday night, the Jimmy V Men's Basketball Classic is held on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at Madison Square Garden in New York City and pits Memphis versus Kansas and Michigan State versus Syracuse on ESPN. Once again, the two early-season college basketball events that showcase top programs on ESPN and ESPN2 will conclude the fourth annual Jimmy V Week, a weeklong initiative held from Dec. 1-7 across multiple ESPN platforms and programs featuring special content to help raise funds for cancer research. The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, The Foundation has raised more than $95 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide.
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
The Aggies are one of just 19 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. A&M's 6-0 record ties for the second-best start in school history next to a 6-0 start to the 2009-10 and 2006-07 seasons. The Aggies went a program-best 12-0 to start off the 2008-09 season.
DANIELLE'S SEEING DOUBLE
Wade Trophy Watch list and Preseason All-Big 12 selection Danielle Adams tallied her third double-double of the 2010-11 season and the fifth of her career with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds against California on Saturday. She scored a game-high 26 points against Rice, which followed a 24-point performance in A&M's season opener. The Kansas City, Mo., native also brought down 10 rebounds in each of her first two games to record her third and fourth career double-doubles.
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 (569) and in the top 30 by winning percentage (.706, 569-237) among active Division I coaches in the NCAA women's basketball record books.
• Blair is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 161 wins and a .685 winning percentage (161-74). 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) and and McCallie at Maine (1992-2000) and Michigan State (2000-07). Blair and Stringer are the only two coaches to guide three different teams to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• Blair is 3-2 lifetime versus Duke, while McCallie is 0-2 against Texas A&M. All four of Blair's all-time meetings with the Blue Devils have been memorable moments in each of his program's history. Arkansas reached the 1998 Final Four with a 77-72 win over Duke in the NCAA West Regional finals and A&M reached the 2008 Elite Eight with a 77-63 victory versus the Blue Devils in the Oklahoma City Regional semifinals.
CALIFORNIA RECAP
Texas A&M 74, California 58
• For the first time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams. It was the first start of the season for Colson and the 54th of her career.
• A&M improved to an undefeated 6-0 this season which ties for the second-best start in school history next to a 6-0 start to the 2009-10 and 2006-07 seasons. The Aggies went a program-best 12-0 to start off the 2008-09 season.
• The Aggies have now won 40 straight non-conference home games, dating back to a 40-46 loss to Houston on 12/30/03. In addition, A&M has won 72 of its last 79 home games.
• With the win, the Aggies improve to 2-1 in the all-time series versus Cal. Sixteen points is the largest margin of victory for A&M in the series.
• In the first half, A&M forced 14 Cal turnovers and converted those for 15 points, while not giving up a single point off of a turnover. The Aggies ended the contest with a 31-8 edge in points off turnovers.
• The Aggies outscored Cal in transition, 26-4, including a 16-0 advantage in the first half.
• Senior Sydney Colson (Houston, Texas) was one away from matching career bests with her 10 assists and five steals.
• Senior Maryann Baker (Dallas, Texas) came off the bench for the first time this season and matched her career-high with 10 points in the first half alone. She finished the game with a career-best 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor.
• Danielle Adams turned in her fifth career double-double against Cal with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
BLAIR NOTABLE QUOTABLES
On playing at Duke in the Jimmy V Classic...
"The opportunity to play Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium is an honor in itself. We jumped at the chance knowing how many great teams have played in it in the past. It is definitely a tremendous honor, not only to represent our school and program, but to represent the Jimmy V Foundation and its cause. We are excited to be a part of such a tournament to raise awareness for cancer research."
On the atmosphere at Cameron Indoor...
"They're going to have a huge crowd because they know that our crowd affected their play against us last year. Last year was probably one of the best games we played all year. Monday is a win-win opportunity, because it's good for our kids to play in that environment and at that level."
On Duke seeking revenge from last year's game...
"At the press conference that I went to in New York (for the Jimmy V Classic), Joanne (P. McCallie, Duke head coach) told me that the 95 points we put on them last year is all they've talked about this summer. They have three seniors that are all going to play in the WNBA and five freshmen that play consistently. They're undefeated, they're ranked No. 5 in the nation and they're good, but so are we."
UP NEXT
Playing three games in six days, the Aggies host Purdue as part of the Big 12/Big Ten Challenge back at Reed Arena on Thursday, 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 Steve Miller on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on AggieAthletics.com.