Jan. 18, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#6/5 TEXAS A&M (15-1, 3-0) vs. Texas (11-6, 0-3)
Game #17
January 19, 2011 • 6:30 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,292)
College Station, Texas
Television: None
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Texas leads 58-20
Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Video at www.AggieAthletics.com
GAME PREVIEW
The No. 5 Texas A&M women's basketball team (15-1, 3-0) is off to its best start in school history and its best start in Big 12 conference play and brings a nine-game winning streak back to Reed Arena Wednesday, Jan. 19 to face in-state rival Texas. In the first edition of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown, the Aggies and the Longhorns tip off at 6:30 p.m. In what will be one of its toughest stretches yet of the season, A&M is set to meet UT, No. 20 Iowa State, No. 14/13 Oklahoma and No. 1/1 Baylor, who were all picked to finish in the top five of the Big 12 Preseason Poll. The Aggies are one of four unbeaten teams in the conference and are one of just 10 teams in the nation that boast one loss or less. Texas A&M is ranked in the top 10 nationally in eight statistical categories and in the top five in turnover margin (1st – +11.8), assist-to-turnover ratio (4th – 1.34) and scoring margin (4th – 29.8). The Longhorns are searching for their first league win in the mid-week matchup, while Texas A&M has won eight straight against Texas and 10 of the last 11 meetings.
TICKET INFORMATION
Don't forget about our Three Pack which includes tickets to Texas on Wednesday, No. 1 Baylor on Jan. 30, and No. 13/14 Oklahoma on Feb. 9 and starts at just $18. 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.
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SCOUTING TEXAS
Texas came into conference play on a six-game winning streak, but has since then dropped three straight, including two contests in overtime at Missouri and against Oklahoma. The Longhorns are 2-3 on the road this season and 0-1 on the road in the Big 12. The team is led by freshman guard Chassidy Fussell who is averaging 16.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Four players average double figures for UT, including Kathleen Nash (15.6 ppg), Ashleigh Fontenette (14.1 ppg) and Yvonne Anderson (11.8). Ashley Gayle has a team-best 4.3 blocks and 9.3 rebounds per game. In her fourth year as Texas head coach, Gail Goestenkors is 76-42 (.644), but has never defeated the Aggies in eight previous tries.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
51 Tanisha Smith scored 21 points, and Damitria Buchanan made a layup with 14:47 left. Texas routinely turned the ball over and never appeared comfortable offensively against Texas A&M. Texas only trailed 34-30 at the break despite being plagued by turnovers and 39 percent first-half shooting.
STATE FARM LONE STAR SHOWDOWN
The "Lone Star Showdown" is the official moniker for all varsity men's and women's athletics competition between Texas A&M University and The University of Texas. Last season, Texas A&M women's basketball held on to the Lone Star Showdown trophy, its third-straight claim to the hardware in the six-year history of the rivalry series. The women's basketball team swept UT to earn a full point toward the final point count in 2009-10. In its seventh year of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown, Texas leads overall, 4.0-2.0. Each women's hoops game between the two schools is worth 0.5 points and the school that totals 10.0 points during the year is declared the winner.
UP NEXT
Up next, the Aggies travel to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 22 for an 11 a.m. game at No. 20 Iowa State that is nationally televised on FSN.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The 12th Man does make a difference. The Aggies have won 49 straight non-conference home games, dating back to a 40-46 loss to Houston on 12/30/03. In addition, A&M has won 76 of its last 83 home games for a 91.6 winning percentage at home over the past six seasons.
A SIZZLING START
Texas A&M is off to the best start in school history, winning 15 of its first 16 games. Previously, Gary Blair's Aggies had started the season at 14-1 for three straight seasons, but the 2010-11 team is the only team in program history to start the year at 15-1.
BEST BIG 12 START
The Aggies have gotten out to its first-ever 3-0 start in Big 12 play and look for their fourth straight win against Texas. A&M, at best, has gone 3-1 three times to start league play (2009-10, 2006-07, 2005-06).
NINE 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 nine straight, their longest streak of the season and longest streak since the 2008-09 season when the team started the year with a school-record 12 consecutive wins. During this season's stretch the Aggies have forced their opponents to make an outstanding 26.8 turnovers per game, while just committing 12.7 – a +14.1 turnover margin. A&M is averaging 88.6 points, while averaging nearly 20 assists per game to its opponents' 8.4. The Aggies are also shooting over 50 percent from the floor, over 40 percent from beyond the arc and over 70 percent at the charity stripe.
ADAMS NATIONAL LEADER IN POINTS PER MINUTE
Adams is the Big 12's second-leading scorer and the nation's 10th-best leading scorer who averages 21.6 points per game, but she's also scoring efficiently as she leads the country by scoring the most points per minute. Below are Adam's points per minute, compared to the top 10 national leaders in scoring.
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Name Team (MIN, PTS, PPG, PPM)
Danielle Adams, Texas A&M (426, 345, 21.6, 0.809)
Brittney Griner, Baylor (492, 374, 22, 0.760)
Courtney Hurt, VCU (496, 362, 24.1, 0.730)
Maya Moore, Connecticut (574, 406, 23.9, 0.707)
Dawn Evans, James Madison (572, 404, 25.3, 0.706)
Kourtney Brown, Buffalo (584, 378, 22.2, 0.647)
Whitney Hood, Chattanooga (609, 391, 21.7, 0.642)
Jantel Lavender, Ohio St. (626, 400, 23.5, 0.639)
Kevi Luper, Oral Roberts (651, 414, 23, 0.636)
Amy Jaeschke, Northwestern (684, 434, 22.8, 0.635)
THE NATION'S FINEST
In addition to eight statistical categories in which Texas A&M is ranked in the top 10 nationally (turnover margin – 1st, assist-to-turnover ratio – 4th, scoring margin – 4th, turnovers per game – 6th, field goal percentage – 7th, scoring offense – 7th, won-lost percentage – 9th and assists per game – 10th). A&M is ranked in the top 25 in three other categories (steals per game – 14th, rebound margin – 17th and scoring defense – 18th). Individually, the A&M guard duo of Sydney Carter and Sydney Colson hold the fourth- (3.2) and seventh-best assist-to-turnover ratios (3.1) in the nation. Danielle Adams ranks 10 with 21.6 points per game and Colson is dishing out the eighth-most assists per game (6.4).
AGGIE ATHLETICS – ELITE IN THE POLLS
• A&M (No. 10 MBB in coaches, No. 5 WBB in coaches) joins Duke (No. 4 MBB in AP, No. 3 WBB in AP) and UConn (No. 8 MBB, No. 2 WBB in AP) as the only three schools in the country to have both basketball teams ranked in the top 10.
• A&M (No. 19 football, No. 11 MBB, No. 6 WBB) is the ONLY school to be ranked in the top 20 in the latest AP poll in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.
RPI RATINGS
In the most recent NCAA Women's Basketball RPI, released Jan. 17, Texas A&M remained ranked fourth behind Duke, Tennessee and Connecticut. Stanford rounds out the top five teams. Baylor is the only other Big 12 school in the top 25 and is ranked sixth.
AGGIE ATTENDANCE FIGURES
Texas A&M averages 4,545 fans at each home game, which is the fourth-best in the Big 12 and the 15th-best attendance figure in the nation. The Aggies have been top 25 in national attendance for the past three seasons.
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 moved up to a No. 6 national ranking in the AP Poll and remained at No. 5 in the Coaches' Poll for the fifth 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 90 consecutive weeks and 44 all-time in the top 10. The Aggies have been ranked for 57 consecutive weeks in the AP poll and 36 all-time in the top 10.