Dec. 29, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#7/5 TEXAS A&M (10-1) vs. San Diego State (6-5)
Game #12
December 30, 2010 • 9:00 p.m. (CT)
Viejas Arena (12,414)
at San Diego, Calif.
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: First Meeting
Internet: Free Live Statistics, Live Video and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The No. 5 Texas A&M women's basketball team (10-1) rolled to a 74-45 win over Drexel on Tuesday to advance to the championship game in the four-team San Diego Surf 'N Slam College Hoops Classic. The Aggies face San Diego State (6-5) on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 9 p.m. (CT) at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs earned a 72-52 win over UTSA to advance to the tournament final. Playing in its first Surf 'N Slam Classic, A&M came out strong in its opening game, despite a nine-day layoff. With 20 points from senior Danielle Adams, 14 from junior Tyra White and junior Adaora Elonu's second career double-double (13 pts, 10 reb) the Aggies looked solid in every phase of the game as they held a 38-26 rebounding edge, limited Drexel to 35.6 percent shooting, including a season-low 22.2 percent from 3-point range, and forced the Dragons into a season-high 24 turnovers. Riding a four-game winning streak, Texas A&M will play the Aztecs for the third time in program history on Thursday and holds a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series.
SCOUTING THE AZTECS
Host San Diego State is coming off of a 72-52 win against UTSA in the first game of the Surf 'N Slam Classic on Tuesday. The Aztecs recorded a season-best nine 3-pointers and had four players score in double-figures in the game. SDSU has won two straight Surf 'N Slam titles and looks for its third on Thursday. The team has now won two consecutive games after a 66-57 win against Washington State on Dec. 21. San Diego State is now a 2-3 at home and is receiving a team-best 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds out of 6-foot-4 senior center Paris Johnson, who scored a team-high 14 points on Tuesday. Sophomore Courtney Clements is the only other player averaging double figures with 11.9 points per game. Clements (10 pts), Coco Davis (13 pts) and Melissa Sweat (11 pts) are the other three players that scored in double figures against UTSA. Head coach Beth Burns is in her sixth season of her second stint at the helm of SDSU and took the program to new heights as the team advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen last year with victories over No. 25 West Virginia and No. 17 Texas in the tournament.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Sr. (7.3 ppg, 6.0 apg)
4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, Jr. (9.5 ppg, 4.2 apg)
20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, Jr. (13.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Jr. (10.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg)
23 Danielle Adams, F/C, 6-1, Sr. (21.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg)
SDSU
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
1 Jessika Bradley, F, 6-3, Sr. (7.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg)
2 Coco Davis, G, 5-9, Sr. (9.9 ppg, 6.9 apg)
25 Sajoyia Griffin, G, 5-5, Jr. (4.2 ppg, 2.3 apg)
32 Paris Johnson, C, 6-4 Sr. (18.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg)
54 Courtney Clements, G, 6-0, So. (11.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg)
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Aggies are 2-0 against San Diego State, having played both games in San Diego. The last time the two teams faced each other was on March 20, 1994, when A&M earned in a 75-72 overtime victory.
SAN DIEGO STATE (2-0)
Dec. 20, 1992 A W 63-62
Mar. 20, 1994 A W 75-72 (OT)
UP NEXT
Up next, the Aggies return home to Reed Arena for their last non-conference game against Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. A&M then begins Big 12 play at home on Jan. 8 with Colorado.
AGGIES OUTSCORING BY 26
Texas A&M outscores its opponents by an average of 26.0 points per game. What's more is that the Aggies have outscored seven of its opponents by a margin of 25 points or more. A&M has scored over 70 points in nine contests and has only been held below 60 points once, in its only loss of the season to then -No. 5 Duke.
FOUR STRAIGHT
A&M suffered its only loss of the season, a three-point setback at then-No. 5 Duke on Dec. 6, 2010. Since then, the Aggies have won four straight and forced their opponents to make a significant 24.0 turnovers per game. A&M is averaging 86.0 points in its last four games, while outscoring its opponents by 32.0 points. The team outrebounded its competition by 10.5 rebounds per game and held a +12.3 turnover margin. The Aggies started the year on a six-game streak.
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 a No. 7 national ranking in the AP Poll and remained at No. 5 in the Coaches' Poll for the second straight week. The Aggies are at their highest ranking since Dec. 8, 2009, when the team was also ranked fifth in the Coaches Poll. A&M has now been ranked in the Coaches Poll for 87 consecutive weeks and 41 all-time in the top 10. The Aggies have been ranked for 51 consecutive weeks in the AP poll and 33 all-time in the top 10.
AGGIE ATHLETICS – ELITE IN THE POLLS
Texas A&M is one of only three schools nationally (Ohio State, Michigan State, A&M) and the only school in the Big 12, to be ranked in each of the latest football, men's basketball and women's basketball Associated Press Top 20. Here's the breakdown:
School – Ranking (WBKB , MBKB, FB)
A&M – 7, 18, 18
MSU – 12, 20, 7
OSU – 13, 2, 6
DREXEL RECAP
Texas A&M 74, Drexel 45
• For the fifth time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams, while 13 players saw action in the game.The Aggies are 4-1 with this starting lineup.
• The Aggies won the first contest all-time versus Drexel.
• A&M held Drexel to just one offensive rebound in the first half, a season-low mark for its opponents.
• The Aggies dished out 21 assists against the Dragons, to mark their fourth time they have had 20 or more assists this season.
• In addition to holding Drexel to a season-low 22.2 percent from beyond the arc and forcing a season-high 24 turnovers, A&M also held the Dragons to season lows with 45 points, 16 field goals and 26 rebounds. The Aggies limited Drexel to just 14.3 percent from beyond the arc in the second half.
• For the ninth time this season, the Aggies outrebounded their opponent. A&M enjoyed a +12 rebounding margin (38-26) in the game.
• A&M has shot 46.4 percent or higher in its last four consecutive contests.
• For the second straight game, the Aggies outscored their opponent by 29 points.
• Adaora Elonu's second career double-double marked her first this season. Her last double-double was on March 2, 2010 against Oklahoma.
• Tyra White reached double figures for the eighth time this season, while Elonu tallied her sixth double figure performance.
•Kristi Bellock registered a career-high three steals.
BLAIR NOTABLE QUOTABLES
On the Drexel game...
"We had a pretty good night and did a good job on our half-court defense. A lot of our points were off of transition. We were able to get into the lanes and (Sydney) Colson's strength is playing in transition. She directs traffic pretty well there. Holding them to 22 percent three-point shooting was key and we did a good job defensively on (Jasmina) Rosseel. This was a good team and they are a well-coached team.
"This was a very good game for us because Drexel is very similar to Iowa State, except Iowa State is a lot bigger. We had two good, hard practices here and we wanted to press them to get our players back in shape, since we've been off since the 19th.
"I was also pleased with Karla Gilbert coming off the bench. We need to have her against San Diego State."
On playing San Diego State Thursday...
"San Diego State's strength is in their post players. I think it will be a heck of a ball game on Thursday. They have something we don't have ... they went to the Sweet 16 and did a great job beating Texas (in the NCAA Tournament). I want to teach our team to win on the road. This will be our first true road game since we played Duke."
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 Viejas Arena alongside color analyst Steve Miller on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on AggieAthletics.com.