Dec. 8, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#7/8 TEXAS A&M (6-1) vs. Purdue (4-2)
Game #8
December 9, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,292)
College Station, Texas
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Purdue leads, 2-0
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Video at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The No. 7 Texas A&M women's basketball team (6-1) plays its third game in six days when it welcomes Purdue (4-2) to Reed Arena on Thursday as the final contest of the inaugural Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge. Tipoff between the Aggies and the Boilermakers is set for 7 p.m. A&M rattled off six straight wins to start the season and looks to bounce back from its first loss, 61-58, on Monday night at No. 5 Duke. The Aggies welcome Purdue to College Station for the first time in program history, although the two teams have met twice on neutral sites, where A&M dropped both contests back in 1994 and 1995. Texas A&M is one of the nation's leaders in scoring margin and turnover margin. The Aggies have defeated their opponents by an average margin of 22.6 points per game and have forced an average of 8.9 more turnovers per game than its competition. Senior combination forward/center Danielle Adams leads the Aggies with 19.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, while junior Tyra White adds 13.7 points and junior Adaora Elonu contributes 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest.
TICKET INFORMATION
The popular “Holiday Hoops” promotion begins with the Purdue game Thursday and runs through the Colorado game on Jan. 8. Fans can purchase tickets starting at just $4 for adults and $2 for children (general admission). Holiday Hoops tickets can be purchased online at: www.12thManFoundation.com, in person at the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Office and Reed Arena Box Office or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
Don't forget our great deal on group tickets which include $3 general admission or $5 reserved lower level seats with the purchase of 20 or more tickets.
SCOUTING PURDUE
Purdue is receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and started the season at 4-0 before dropping its last two contests against top 25 opponents No. 22 Maryland, 56-55, and No. 16 Notre Dame, 72-51. With Texas A&M being its third-straight and highest-ranked opponent it has face all season, it will be no small task, especially since the Boilermakers are without two starters, Drey Mingo, who is recovering from bacterial meningitis, and KK Houser who is out for the season with a torn ACL on her right knee. Mingo was averaging a team-leading 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds through the first four games. Brittany Rayburn is the team's second-leading scorer with 16.2 points per game, followed by Courtney Moses with 11.2. Antionette Howard adds 8.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Head coach Sharon Versyp is in her fifth year at the helm of the program and holds a 94-51 overall record at Purdue.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Sr. (6.8 ppg, 5.0 apg)
4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, Jr. (7.6 ppg, 4.0 apg)
20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, Jr. (13.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Jr. (10.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
23 Danielle Adams, F/C, 6-1, Sr. (19.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
PURDUE
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
15 Courtney Moses, G, 5-7, Fr. (11.2 ppg, 2.6 apg)
5 Brittany Rayburn, G, 6-0, Jr. (16.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
43 Chantel Poston, G, 5-10, R-So. (2.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
32 Sam Ostarello, F, 6-2, So. (6.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
40 Chelsea Jones, C, 6-4, Jr. (3.0 ppg, 1.3 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Texas A&M trails 2-0 in the all-time series with Purdue and last played the then-fifth-ranked Boilermakers on Dec. 1, 1995 when they prevailed over the 22nd-ranked Aggies in a close contest, 74-72, in the Kona Classic in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. In 1994, then-No. 8 Purdue downed A&M, 82-56, in the NCAA Sweet 16 in Palo Alto, Calif., on March 24, 1994. That season, Purdue went on to its first NCAA Final Four appearance.
PURDUE (0-2)
Mar. 24, 1994 N L 56-82
Dec. 1, 1995 N L 72-74
AGAINST THE BIG TEN
Texas A&M is 8-7 all-time against schools hailing from the 11-member Big Ten Conference including Indiana (1-0), Michigan (3-0), Michigan State (0-1), Minnesota (3-3), Northwestern (0-1), Purdue (0-2) and Wisconsin (1-0). The Aggies are 5-1 versus Big Ten opponents in the Gary Blair Era.
MORE ON THE BIG TEN/BIG 12 CHALLENGE
With seven wins in the inaugural Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge, the Big Ten claimed the title between the two conferences. The Big Ten holds a 7-4 lead with Purdue versus Texas A&M being the final matchup in the challenge. Most of the women's basketball contests were held on Dec. 5, 2010.
THE NATION'S FINEST
Texas A&M is currently the second best team in the nation in turnover margin and is ranked seventh in scoring margin. Statistically, the Aggies ranked among the top 25 in nine NCAA categories. Individually, Sydney Carter holds the eighth-best assist-to-turnover ratio and is 18th in free-throw percentage, while Danielle Adams ranks 18th in points per game and 20th in field-goal percentage.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The 12th Man does make a difference. The Aggies have 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.
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 remained at its No. 7 national ranking in the AP Poll, achieving its highest ranking since a year ago on Dec. 1, 2009, when the team was ranked seventh in the Coaches Poll. The Aggies dropped a single spot to No. 8 in the Coaches' Poll. A&M has now been ranked in the Coaches Poll for 84 consecutive weeks and 38 all-time in the top 10. The Aggies have been ranked for 48 consecutive weeks in the AP poll and 30 all-time in the top 10.
DANIELLE'S SEEING DOUBLE
Wade Trophy Watch list and Preseason All-Big 12 selection Danielle Adams tallied her fourth double-double of the 2010-11 season and the sixth of her career with 11 points and 12 rebounds at No. 5 Duke on Monday. The Kansas City, Mo., native is also riding a 16-game double-digit scoring streak.
DUKE RECAP
Duke 61, Texas A&M 58
• For the second time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams.
• With the loss, the Aggies move to 3-1 in the all-time series versus Duke. Three points is the smallest margin of victory between the two teams in the series. A&M also moves to 4-5 all-time against ACC teams.
• While A&M forced nine Duke turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game, the Aggies did not turn the ball over once in that span.
• A&M turned the ball over just five times in the first half…a season low mark.
• Junior Sydney Carter (DeSoto, Texas) poured in a season high 13 points against the Blue Devils.
• Senior Danielle Adams (Kansas City, Mo.) turned in her sixth career double-double against Duke with 11 points and 12 rebounds. She added a season-best four blocked shots. Twelve rebounds match her career best. She also extended her double-digit scoring streak to 16 straight games.
• Junior Adaora Elonu (Houston, Texas) scored a season-high 15 points and tied her season best with eight rebounds. • Junior Tyra White (Kansas City, Mo.) has now turned in double figures in five of her last six outings including scoring 11 against the Blue Devils.
BLAIR NOTABLE QUOTABLES
On the California and Duke games…
“Cal and Duke were perfect for us. With Cal we were able to play half-court def and make them turn into a one-on-one transition game with their two guards. If you can force their guard to shoot 7-of-24 you're doing fine. We forced Duke to shoot 27 percent (in the second half). They only had four field goals in the second half besides their four 3-pointers. So we can live with that, but we still shot 34 percent for the game and we have to shoot better.
On Purdue…
“They have a freshman point guard (Courtney Moses)who is playing very well and is a smart player. Their key is their two guard, Brittany Rayburn. She's a different version of Melissa Jones from Baylor. She's always going to get in and she's the strength of their team. They run so many sets for her and normally we've been able to take teams out of their half-court offense and turn them into one-on-one players. Purdue is too disciplined to do that. I think they'll still run their half-court offense against our pressure. What they're going to do is execute and milk that shot clock down until they get what they want. They're not as strong inside as they've been in the past, particularly since (6-foot-2 forward Drey) Mingo got meningitis. They have size coming off the bench and she (Head Coach Sharon Versyp) plays a lot of players. This is a team that we've got to open it up with and get into our transition game and create some easy baskets instead of always having to score in the half-court (set). We did it against Duke and scored on transition most of the time.”
On A&M's reserve post players…
"We'll have to use Karla (Gilbert) tomorrow which is a lot better matchup for her that what she had at Duke. Plus she's at home. She'll play better with a home crowd. We'll try (Kristi) Bellock in there tomorrow as well. No matter what, she'll play.”
UP NEXT
As part of a quick two-game homestand, the Aggies host TCU on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Reed Arena.
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.