Second-Seeded Aggies Battle Top-Seeded Baylor in NCAA Elite Eight
Mar 28, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 28, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#2 TEXAS A&M (30-5) vs. #1 BAYLOR (34-2)
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Regional Final
Game #36
March 29, 2011 • 8:07 p.m. (CT)
American Airlines Center (10,146)
at Dallas, Texas
Television: ESPN & ESPN HD
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Baylor leads 47-35
Internet: ESPN3.com, Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com
DALLAS REGIONAL FINAL PREVIEW
The second-seeded and seventh-ranked Texas A&M women's basketball team (30-5) continues to write itself in the history books this season by making just its second NCAA Elite Eight appearance in the 37-year existence of the program. Top-seeded and third-ranked Baylor (34-2) looms ahead as A&M vies for its first trip to the NCAA Final Four. The Aggies and the Lady Bears will battle for that right in the Dallas Regional Finals on Tuesday, March 29 at the American Airlines Center. The game tips off at 8:07 p.m. (CT) and is televised live nationally on ESPN. This is the fourth meeting between the teams this year and A&M is looking for its first victory against Baylor since 2008. The sky's the limit for the defensive-minded Aggies as they have held their opponents to 2011 NCAA Tournament-bests with an average of just 44.3 points per game and a 30.8 defensive field goal percentage their first three games. A&M's offense is also firing on all cylinders as the Aggies have the best scoring margin in the tournament field (+34.3).
ON THE TUBE
Texas A&M will appear on the ESPN family of networks for the seventh time this season. Play-by-play announcer Pam Ward, analyst Stephanie White and reporter Beth Mowins will call the Dallas Regional action live from the American Airlines Center. All women's NCAA Tournament games are also available on ESPN3.com.
THE ELITE EIGHT FIELD
A&M is one of six teams in this year's Elite Eight field to have reached the regional finals in at least two of the last four years along with top-seeded Connecticut, Baylor, Tennessee and Stanford and second-seeded Duke. Texas A&M and Gonzaga are the only two in the Elite Eight field that have not made a Final Four appearance. Seven of the eight schools have reached 30-or-more wins this season, except for Notre Dame (29-7). The Big 12 Conference will only leave one school standing after Tuesday's game and just the Big East Conference in Duke, Connecticut and Notre Dame have a chance to put two teams into the Final Four. Historically the No. 1 seed is 58-23 when playing in the regional finals, while the No. 2 seed has advanced to the Final Four on 19 occasions.
AGGIES IN NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY
The Aggies are 12-7 all-time in postseason play and are making their eighth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance ('94, '96, '06, '07, '08, '09 '10, '11) and second in the Elite Eight ('08, '11). Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair has now led 17 of his all-time squads at Stephen F. Austin (6-6), Arkansas (8-5) and A&M (10-5) combined to the Big Dance with a 24-16 career record in NCAA Tournament games. He is one of only two Division I women's basketball coaches next to C. Vivian Stringer (Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers) to take three teams to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Aggies are one of seven top seeds to advance to the regional final as 11th-seeded Gonzaga is the only non one or two seed in the Elite Eight. Historically, six No. 2 seeds have gone on to win a national championship title including Tennessee in 1987, Louisiana Tech in 1988, Texas Tech in 1993, Connecticut in 2004, Baylor in 2005 and Maryland in 2006.
UP NEXT
Should the Aggies win their NCAA Regional Final game they will have a date with either top-seeded Stanford (32-2) or 11th-seeded Gonzaga (31-4) in the national semifinals on Tuesday, April 3 in Indianapolis.
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SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor is riding a 10-game winning streak and defeated Prairie View (66-30), West Virginia (82-68) and Green Bay (86-76) to reach its third NCAA Elite Eight in as many years. The Lady Bears look to add more hardware to their trophy case this season, which already includes the 2011 Big 12 regular season and postseason trophies and a 2005 national championship trophy, to name a few. Nationally, Baylor boasts the most blocked shots per game and the second-best scoring margin (+25.8) and defensive field goal percentage (32.2). The Lady Bears average 79.9 points per game and are led by Big 12 Player of the Year Brittney Griner with a Big 12-best 23.1 points per game, 7.8 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game. Big 12 Freshman of the Year Odyssey Sims is the team's second-leading scorer with 13.4 points per game. Destiny Williams adds 7.2 rebounds and 8.8 points while Melissa Jones contributes 8.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. In her 11th season at the helm of Baylor, Kim Mulkey is 298-78 (.793).
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Sr. (7.8 ppg, 6.2 apg)
4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, Jr. (10.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, Jr. (13.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Jr. (8.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
23 Danielle Adams, F/C, 6-1, Sr. (22.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg)
BAYLOR
No. Name (2010-11 Stats)
0 Odyssey Sims, G, 5-9, Fr. (13.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
3 Jordan Madden, G, 6-0, So. (4.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
5 Melissa Jones, G, 5-11, Sr. (8.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
10 Destiny Williams, F, 6-1, RS-So. (9.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg)
42 Brittney Griner, C, 6-8, So. (23.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg)
SERIES HISTORY
Baylor holds a 47-35 advantage in the all-time series with Texas A&M and has won the last eight straight meetings between the two Big 12 South rivals. Nevertheless, 10 out of the last 11 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 facing the Lady Bears for the fourth time this year, but for the first time in the NCAA Championship. It marks the first time since 1975 that A&M faced Baylor more than three times in a season. The Aggies played the Lady Bears a record six times that year, three of which came in the month of March.
LAST NINE GAMES IN THE SERIES
L, 58-61 (-3) on March 12, 2011 in Kansas City, Mo.
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 had 31 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks to lift No. 3 Baylor to a 61-58 victory Saturday, March 12 over No. 8 Texas A&M for the Big 12 tournament title. Griner's points and blocks were Big 12 championship game records. The Lady Bears defeated the Aggies for the third time this season. The Aggies' Danielle Adams was held to 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting. Adams missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left that would have tied the game. Texas A&M stunned Baylor by taking a 12-0 lead that featured excellent defense by the Aggies' guards. Sydney Colson and Sydney Carter combined for six steals in the first half and were quick to collapse in the post when Griner put the ball on the floor. The Lady Bears didn't score a point in the opening 4:50, but began to chip away at the deficit after a short jumper by Destiny Williams ended the scoring drought. The Lady Bears used a 23-6 run to move ahead 23-18 with 5:22 left in the half. The 6-foot-8 Griner started slowly, but came on later in the half as Texas A&M tried different defenders. Griner finished the half with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting after a 1-for-5 start. Texas A&M closed within 30-28 at the break. Adams took just three shots in the first half. The Lady Bears got back in the game with a big lift from reserve Kimetria Hayden, who had eight points in 15 first-half minutes. She finished with 10. Tyra White added 12 points for the Aggies.
30-WIN SEASON
For the first time in 37 all-time seasons of Aggie basketball, Texas A&M reached 30 wins and set a new school record for most wins in a single season. The Aggies are one of only nine Division I programs with 30-or-more victories this season. The Aggies will finish this year with the best winning percentage and fewest losses in school history. 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.
THE BEST OF BLAIR
In 26 years as a Division I head coach, Blair has now led two teams to 30-win seasons, including his 1988-89 Stephen F. Austin squad that went 30-4 and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. Blair last guided a team to the Final Four at Arkansas in 1998.
FROM THE SIDELINES
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 9-16 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).
NCAA SWEET 16 RECAP
Texas A&M 79, Georgia 38
TEAM NOTES
• For the 25th 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 20-5 with this starting lineup.
• With 30 wins, the Aggies set a new school record for most wins in a single season and gave Texas A&M women's basketball its first 30-win season all-time.
• Texas A&M will meet the winner of the other Dallas Region semifinal (No. 1 seed Baylor vs. No. 5 seed Green Bay) at 8 p.m. Tuesday at American Airlines Center.
• The Aggies improve to 12-7 all-time in NCAA postseason play in their eighth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance. A&M improves to 2-2 all-time in Sweet 16 games.
• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is now 10-5 at A&M and 24-16 in his career in NCAA Tournament games.
• After their first meeting, Texas A&M improves to 1-0 in the all-time series with Georgia.
• The Aggies' 41-point margin of victory was the biggest in school history for an NCAA Tournament game.
• A&M has won its three tournament games by 40 points (McNeese State), 22 points (Rutgers) and 41 points (Georgia). A&M's defense, orchestrated by assistant coach Vic Schaefer, is the only team in the NCAA field to hold all three of its opponents to less than 50 points.
• The Aggies held Georgia to a first-half season low 20 points and to its second-lowest total in an NCAA Tournament game.
• A&M held the Lady Bulldogs to 15-of-60 from the floor with a .250 shooting percentage, their lowest total of the season. That was also the second-worst shooting percentage in NCAA regional history.
• A&M drained a first-half season-high eight 3-pointers en route to a matching its season-high with 10 3-pointers. Ten 3-point field goals in the most in an NCAA Tournament game for the Aggies.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Danielle Adams tallied her 15th double-double this season and the 18th of her career on Sunday. Her 14 rebounds were a career-high and matched the most in an NCAA Tournament game for an Aggie. She has now scored in double figures in 43 of her last 44 games and posted her 21st 20-point performance this season.
• Adams also now has 795 points this season, putting her just ahead of Baylor's Brittney Griner (792) as they chase the Big 12 single-season scoring record, currently held by Oklahoma State guard Andrea Riley (909 points in 2010).
• Tyra White's 14 points and Sydney Carter's six assts were both new NCAA personal highs. Adrienne Pratcher matched her career high in points (nine)
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 the American Airlines Center alongside color analyst Steve Miller on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on AggieAthletics.com and RadioAggieland.com.
