No. 8 Aggies Vie for Third Big 12 Championship Title in Kansas City
Mar 12, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 12, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#2 Seed TEXAS A&M (27-4) vs. #1 Seed BAYLOR (30-2)
Game #32
March 12, 2011 • 11 a.m. (CT)
Municipal Auditorium (9,308)
at Kansas City, Mo.
Television: Fox Sports Net
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Baylor leads 46-35
Internet: Live Statistics and Live Video at www.Big12Sports.com
GAME PREVIEW
The eighth-ranked and second-seeded Texas A&M women's basketball team (27-4) has won six of its last seven games and looks to carry that momentum into its third rematch of the season with third-ranked and top-seeded Baylor (30-2) in the title game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 12 at Municipal Auditorium. Tipoff between the Aggies and the Lady Bears is set for 11 a.m. (CT). A&M is in search of its third Big 12 postseason title and its second straight in Kansas City, Mo. The higher seeded team has won every game in the 2011 Big 12 Championship, marking the first time in history that has happened. It also marks the first time since 2006 the No. 1 and 2 seeds will meet in the Big 12 Championship game. Baylor and A&M have met one other time in the finals and the Lady Bears came out on top 72-63 in Oklahoma City, Okla., in 2009.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE
The Big 12 Championship quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game will be aired before a nationally-televised audience exclusively on Fox Sports Net. Play-by-play announcer Brenda VanLengen, color analyst Debbie Antonelli and sideline reporter Cindy Stein will call Texas A&M's semifinal game versus Oklahoma live from Municipal Auditorium on FSN. Check your local listings.
PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION
Texas A&M became the first team in league history to advance to the Big 12 championship game for the fourth consecutive year (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). The Aggies made their sixth consecutive appearance in the semifinals, extending all the way back to the 2006 tournament held at Reunion Arena in Dallas. A&M is the only league school to make six-straight semifinal appearances. The Aggies are 2-1 all-time when playing in the finals and have only lost as the No. 4 seed. They also hold a 2-0 record all-time against the No. 1 seed and boast the best tournament record of any league school (12-3) over the last five years. A&M won its first-ever Big 12 postseason title in 2008 in Kansas City and became the first No. 4 seed in league history to do so. The Aggies followed with its second postseason title last season again as the No. 4 seed. A&M is currently 13-12 all-time in Big 12 Championship play.
AGGIE STARS OF THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
All-Big 12 First Team selections Danielle Adams is averaging a double-double with 19.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in the first two games of the Big 12 Championship. What's even more impressive is that the five Aggie starters are each scoring in double figures with 16 points per game from Tyra White, 14 from Sydney Carter, 11.5 from Sydney Colson and 11 from Adaora Elonu. White and Elonu are grabbing 6.5 rebounds per game, while Colson is dishing out seven assists per game and swiping four steals. Carter is shooting 59 percent from the floor and 83 percent from the charity stripe, while she and White are hitting 50 percent of their 3-pointers.
VOTE FOR THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Fans, this is your chance to take part in the voting for this year's Most Outstanding Player at the Phillips 66 Women's Basketball Championship. Below is the link to vote:
http://www.big12sports.com//quest/Questionaire.dbml?&QID=100911&DB_OEM_ID=10410
FOLLOW @Aggie_W_Hoops ON TWITTER
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SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor fell to Texas Tech (45-56) on Feb. 19 and inched by Oklahoma (82-81) its following game, but since then has been on a roll, outscoring its opponents by an average of over 30 points. The Lady Bears cruised past Kansas in the quarterfinals and Kansas State in the semifinals to face its first Big 12 South opponent of the tournament in Texas A&M. Baylor is led by Big 12 Player of the year, 6-foot-8 sophomore Brittney Griner with 22.3 points, 7.8 points and 4.4 blocks per game. Big 12 Freshman of the Year Odyssey Sims follows with 13.8 points per game and sophomore forward Destiny Williams chips in with 9.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Sr. (7.8 ppg, 6.4 apg)
4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, Jr. (10.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, Jr. (13.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Jr. (8.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
23 Danielle Adams, F/C, 6-1, Sr. (23.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
BAYLOR
No. Name (2010-11 Stats
0 Odyssey Sims, G, 5-9, Fr. (13.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg)
3 Jordan Madden, G, 6-0, So. (4.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
5 Melissa Jones, G, 5-11, Sr. (8.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
10 Destiny Williams, F, 6-1, RS-So. (9.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
42 Brittney Griner, C, 6-8, So. (22.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Baylor holds a 46-35 advantage in the all-time series with Texas A&M and has won the last seven straight meetings between the two Big 12 South rivals. Nevertheless, nine out of the last 10 contests in the series have been close and were decided by nine points or less. The last game A&M won was by 19 points at home on March 1, 2008. The Aggies are 0-3 against the Lady Bears all-time in the Big 12 Championship.
LAST EIGHT GAMES IN THE SERIES
L, 58-67 (-9) on Feb. 14, 2011 in Waco, Texas
L, 60-63 (-3) on Jan. 30, 2011 in College Station
L, 63-65 (-2) on Feb. 22, 2010 in College Station
L, 53-61 (-8) on Jan. 27, 2010 in Waco, Texas
L, 63-72 (-9) on March 15, 2009 in Oklahoma City
L, 60-64 (-4) on March 7, 2009 in Waco, Texas
L, 61-64 (-3) on Jan. 21, 2009 in College Station
W, 72-53 (+19) on March 1, 2008 in College Station
BAYLOR REPLAY
Brittney Griner scored 23 of her 26 points after halftime for top-ranked Baylor, including three consecutive baskets late to put the Lady Bears ahead for good as they survived another close call against No. 5 Texas A&M with a 67-58 victory Monday night. Only two of The Lady Bears' (24-1, 11-0 Big 12) victories this season have been by less than 11 points, and both have come in the past 16 days against the Aggies (21-3, 9-2). Baylor, which trailed most of the game, finally went ahead to stay when Kimetria Hayden grabbed an A&M miss and got the ball to Griner for a layup and a 57-56 lead with 3 minutes left. After Big 12 scoring leader Danielle Adams missed for A&M, Griner scored again. Texas A&M, which lost 63-60 at home to Baylor on Jan. 30, then had a turnover before Griner scored inside. Adams, coming off an A&M-record 40 points Saturday against Kansas, had a season-low nine points on 5-of-16 shooting. Griner came up big when it counted most in a game matching the Big 12's top two teams and also had 11 rebounds for her 24th career double-double. Freshman Odyssey Sims added 22 points for the Lady Bears. Tyra White had a career-high 29 points and was the only player in double figures for Texas A&M, which was held to a season-low 31 percent shooting (22 of 71).
UP NEXT
Should the Aggies win on Saturday, they will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and will find out their first and second round site on Selection Monday, March 14 at 6 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. If not, the complete field of 64 is announced on Monday. The Aggies have most likely locked a No. 2 seed in the tournament either way.
KC MASTERPIECE
One thing that sets Texas A&M apart from the rest of the Big 12 Championship field is having the Kansas City combination of All-Big 12 First Team selections Danielle Adams and Tyra White. The duo accounts for 47 percent of the team's scoring and combined for 40 or more points nine times and 50 or more points twice (vs. ULM on Jan. 4 and vs. Texas Tech on Feb. 5) this season. Both starred at area high schools. White was a McDonald's High School All-American out of Hickman Mills High School, while Adams was a JUCO All-American at Jefferson (Mo.) College. Adams played high school ball at Lee's Summit.
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 714 points this year and is ranked ninth in career points as the only two-year player on the list with 1,253. 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)
722 Edwina Brown, Texas (2000)
719 Alicia Thompson, Texas Tech (1998)
714 Danielle Adams, Texas A&M (2011)
714 Brittney Griner, Baylor (2011)
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 9-15 lifetime versus Baylor in his 26 years as a Division I head coach. Blair was previously an assistant coach to current Baylor assistant coach Leon Barmore at Louisiana Tech from 1980-85 and their star point guard was Kim Mulkey who led the Lady Techsters to back-to-back national championship titles in 1981 (AIAW) and 1982 (NCAA).
BIG 12 SEMIFINALS RECAP
Texas A&M 81, Oklahoma 68
• For the 21st 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 17-4 with this starting lineup.
• Texas A&M improves to 26-18 in the all-time series with Oklahoma. The Aggies, however, have won five straight and seven of the last eight meetings between the two Big 12 South rivals.
• The Aggies move to 3-2 all-time against OU in the Big 12 Championship, 4-2 all-time in the semifinals and 13-12 overall in all Big 12 Championship games.
• A&M becomes the first school in Big 12 history with four straight Big 12 Championship finals appearances (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011). A&M has won two of the last three Big 12 Championships, including last season's title game over Oklahoma
• The higher seeded team has won every game in the 2011 Big 12 Championship, marking the first time in history that has happened. It also marks the first time since 2006 the No. 1 and 2 seeds will meet in the Big 12 Championship game.
• Texas A&M's 13 steals against Oklahoma are tied for the most in Big 12 Championship semifinal game history.
• As a team, Texas A&M's 19 offensive rebounds are tied for third in Big 12 Championship semifinal history.
• Tyra White grabbed a first-half season-best seven rebounds en route to nine on Friday. She was one rebound shy of a double-double.
• With 16 points today, Danielle Adams moved into ninth place on Texas A&M's career scoring chart with 1,253 points. She also posted 11 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season. She has been in double-figure scoring in 39 out of the last 40 contests.
• Danielle Adam's seven individual offensive rebounds are tied for third in Big 12 Championship semifinal history.
• Sydney Colson's three steals today vs. Oklahoma puts her in fourth place on Texas A&M's career chart with 237. She was near a triple-double with nine points, a career-high eight rebounds and a game-high eight assists.
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 Municipal Auditorium alongside color analyst Steve Miller on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on AggieAthletics.com and RadioAggieland.com.
