March 17, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#2 TEXAS A&M (27-5) vs. #15 MCNEESE STATE (26-6)
Game #33
March 20, 2011 • 4:05 p.m. (CT)
CenturyTel Center (14,000)
at Bossier City, La.
Television: ESPNU (ESPN2*)
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Texas A&M lead 6-2
Internet: ESPN3.com, Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
* TV Note: Game will be available in its entirety on ESPNU. Some viewers will also be able to view on ESPN2. Check local listings.
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The seventh-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (27-5) heads to Shreveport, La., this weekend for the program's sixth consecutive trip to the Big Dance. As the No. 2 seed in the Dallas Regional, the Aggies gained admission to the ball as a No. 2 seed for an NCAA-record fourth straight time. A&M will face 15th-seeded and Southland Conference champion McNeese State (26-6) in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship to be held Sunday, March 20 at the CenturyTel Center. Tipoff between the Aggies and the Cowgirls is set for 4:05 p.m. (CT) on ESNPU. A&M will look to hold off an upset-minded McNeese squad which will be playing just 180 miles from home. The Aggies have won each of their last four opening-round games since 2007.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ESPN COVERAGE
Texas A&M will appear on the ESPN family of networks for the fourth time this season. Play-by-play announcer Carter Blackburn and color analyst Fran Franschilla will call first-and second-round action live from CenturyTel Center located in Bossier City, La. The game will be available in its entirety on ESPNU. Some viewers will also be able to view the game on ESPN2. Check your local listings. All women's NCAA Tournament games are available on ESPN3.com.
AGGIES IN NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY
The Aggies are 9-7 all-time in postseason play and are making their eighth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance next to 1994, 1996, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Texas A&M head coach Morenike Atunrase scored 19 points to lead six Texas A&M players in double figures as the No. 12-ranked Aggies defeated McNeese State, 109-26, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006 at Reed Arena. Freshman Adrian McGowen came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points. Freshman Ashlaa Horton, sophomore Takia Starks and sophomore Danielle Gant each scored 12 points and sophomore La Toya Micheaux added 11. Gant also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to record her first career double-double. Texas A&M (3-0) shot a season-best 63.8 percent from the field (44-69). The Aggies also scored 46 points off 28 McNeese State turnovers. Leading the way for McNeese State (1-3) was Shonice Sprouse who had nine points. The 83-point margin of victory tied a school-record previously set in a 99-16 victory over Rice on Jan. 21, 1975. The Aggies also set a new Reed Arena record for most points scored in a single game (109). It was the second fewest points scored by an opponent behind 16 versus Rice during the 1974-75 season.
AGGIE NCAA TOURNAMENT TIDBITS
• Texas A&M is making a school-record sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to the streak, the Aggies had never played in consecutive NCAA Tournaments and had not been a part of March Madness since 1996.
• The Aggies are in elite company as one of only three programs to have both their men's and women's basketball teams make six straight NCAA Tournament appearances next to Tennessee and Duke.
• A&M is one of only 16 Division I women's basketball programs to make the NCAA Tournament field of 64 six years in a row next to defending national champion Connecticut, Tennessee, Georgia, Stanford, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Rutgers, Ohio State, Duke, Notre Dame, DePaul, Oklahoma, Florida State, Baylor and Temple.
• A&M is the only program in NCAA history to receive four straight No. 2 seeds (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). Three other programs have earned just three consecutive No. 2 seeds including Texas Tech (1993, 1994, 1995) Purdue (2002, 2003, 2004) and Stanford (2007, 2008, 2009).
• A&M is one of only three elite programs to receive a No. 2 seed or higher in each of the last four years along with Connecticut and Stanford. The Aggies' previous program-best was a No. 4 seed leading into the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
• A&M's roster has a combined 42 games of NCAA Tournament experience, but a majority of that has come off the bench or late in first-round wins. The Aggies total just nine starts in NCAA play, with the most coming from Sydney Colson (3). Colson also has the most career NCAA minutes (153), with no other A&M player totaling even 100 minutes of experience.
A SIZZLING SEASON
Texas A&M has never had a team with as good as a record as the Aggies going into NCAA postseason play. The next best record was in 2006-07 when A&M held a 24-6 record before the NCAA Tournament. In Big 12 Conference play, the Aggies matched their best record all-time with a 13-3 mark, which also occurred in 2006-07.
TEAM SEASONS BESTS
The Aggies will finish the 2010-11 season with the best winning percentage and fewest losses in school history. The team also has a chance to boast the most wins program history and currently matches the second-most victories (27) and needs two more W's to match the record (29 in 2008) and three to surpass it. In addition, A&M holds the second-best scoring average (78.6) in 37 all-time seasons of women's basketball, next to a 79.7 scoring average in 1995.
ELONU AND WHITE NEARING CAREER MILESTONES
Adaora Elonu and Tyra White are both juniors and are nearing milestones in their Aggie careers. With 473 career rebounds, Elonu is approaching the 500 rebound club and would be just the 21st A&M player to reach that mark. With 980 career points, White is drawing near the 1,000 point club and would be the 23rd Aggie to reach that achievement.
ADAMS AND WHITE EARN ALL-REGION HONORS
Danielle Adams and Tyra White were among 52 all-region selections chosen by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). On, Monday, March 21, the State Farm Coaches' All-America Team selection committee will review these candidates and trim the list to 40 finalists, all of whom will be in the running for selection to the 10-member State Farm Coaches' All-America Team.
ADAMS ON BIG 12'S TOP 10 SINGLE SEASON SCORING LIST
Danielle Adams has already registered the most points of any A&M women's basketball player in a single season with 726 points this year and is ranked ninth in career points as the only two-year player on the list with 1,265. Now, she has also positioned herself on the Big 12's single season list for total points, following some of the league's greatest scorers like Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley and Oklahoma's Courtney Paris.
Big 12 Single Season Total Points:
909 Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State (2010)
807 Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State (2008)
788 Courtney Paris, Oklahoma (2006)
777 Danielle McCray, Kansas (2009)
775 Courtney Paris, Oklahoma (2007)
736 Sophia Young, Baylor (2006)
735 Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State (2009)
745 Brittney Griner, Baylor (2011)
726 Danielle Adams, Texas A&M (2011)
722 Edwina Brown, Texas (2000)
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 (590) and in the top 30 by winning percentage (.709, 590-242) among active Division I coaches in the NCAA women's basketball record books.
• Blair is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 182 wins and a .697 winning percentage (182-79). 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 five active Division I coaches (six all-time) to lead three different programs to the NCAA Tournament next to C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers, Joanne P. McCallie of Duke, Jim Foster of Ohio State and Patricia Cage-Bibbs of N.C. A&T. 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.
• Blair is 18-1 all-time against McNeese State. This will be the fourth meeting with the Cowgirls in the Gary Blair Era at A&M.
• Sophomore Kristi Bellock is the lone Louisianan on the roster. She is a native of St. Rose, La., which is part of the greater New Orleans metropolitan area.
BIG 12 FINALS RECAP
Baylor 61, Texas A&M 58
• For the 22nd time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams. The Aggies are 17-5 with this starting lineup.
• Texas A&M is now 35-47 in the all-time series with Baylor. Ten of the last 11 contests in the series have been decided by nine points or less. The Aggies are 0-4 against the Lady Bears all-time in the Big 12 Championship.
• The Aggies move to 2-2 all-time when playing in the finals. They are 2-1 all-time against the No. 1 seed and still boast the best tournament record of any league school (12-4) over the last five years. and 13-13 in all-time Big 12 Championship games.
• A&M is the first school in Big 12 history with four straight Big 12 Championship final appearances (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).
• The three-point Baylor victory represents the smallest winning margin in a Big 12 Championship title game since Iowa State defeated Oklahoma, 68-65, in 2001.
• Texas A&M recorded 21 offensive rebounds, which ranks second in Big 12 Championship game history.
• A&M has forced 20 or more turnovers in its last three games, including 31 against Texas, 20 versus Oklahoma and 22 against Baylor. The last time Baylor had 20+ turnovers was against the Aggies on Jan. 23.
• Sydney Carter matched her career-best with four steals in the first half alone. She finished with a career-high six steals which are tied for the Big 12 Championship game record and rank tied for fifth on the all-time Big 12 Championship single-game record chart. She recorded 13 steals for the tournament, which is an individual Big 12 Championship series record.
• Danielle Adams has now scored in double figures in 40 of the last 41 games, including eight straight.
• Danielle Adams and Tyra White were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team. Adams led the team with 17 points and nine rebounds per game, while White was second with 14.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Both players all made the all-tournament team for the second consecutive year.
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 CenturyTel Center alongside color analyst Steve Miller on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on AggieAthletics.com and RadioAggieland.com.