No. 10 Aggies Travel to Iowa State Saturday

Jan 13, 2012 | Women's Basketball

By: Texas A&M Athletics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 10 Texas A&M women's basketball team looks to bounce back on Saturday, Jan. 14 when it travels to Iowa State for its second Big 12 Conference road game of the season. The Aggies and the Cyclones tip off at 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.

#12/10 TEXAS A&M (10-4, 1-2 Big 12) at IOWA STATE (9-5, 0-3 Big 12)

Game 15

Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)

Hilton Coliseum (14,356)

Ames, Iowa

Television: None

Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (WTAW 1620 AM)

Series History: Iowa State leads 14-6

Internet: Free Live Audio and Live Stats at AggieAthletics.com

TEXAS A&M

Record: 10-4 (1-2 Big 12)

Ranking: #12 (AP), #10 (Coaches)

Last Result: L, 71-76 vs. Texas on 1/11/12

Up Next: vs. Missouri on 1/18/12

Head Coach: Gary Blair, Ninth Season

Texas A&M Record: 198-83 (.705)

Career Record: 606-246 (.711)

IOWA STATE

Record: 9-5 (0-3 Big 12)

Ranking: NR (AP), NR (Coaches)

Last Result: L, 67-74 (2OT) at Kansas on 1/11/12

Up Next: at Texas on 1/18/12

Head Coach: Bill Fennelly, 17^th Season

ISU Record: 363-164 (.689)

Career Record: 529-217 (.709)

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 Hilton Coliseum alongside color analyst Steve Miller on WTAW 1620 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on RadioAggieland.com.

QUICK HITS

Four Aggies are averaging double figures this season with Preseason All-Big 12 selection Tyra White (14.9 ppg) leading the way. She is followed by Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year Kelsey Bone (12.6 ppg) and senior guard Sydney Carter (12.6 ppg). Senior forward Adaora Elonu also averages double figures (11.4 ppg).
Bone leads the team in rebounding (7.3 rpg), followed closely by Elonu (7.1 rpg), and White averages 5.4 rebounds per game.
The Aggies lead the Big 12 Conference with a turnover margin of +5.1. The team has also forced its opponents into an average of 21.2 turnovers per game and averages 19.1 offensive rebounds per game, both of which are second-best in the Big 12.
The Aggies have the 18th-best rebounding margin in the nation at +8.7.
In A&M's last five contests, White has stepped up her game, averaging 18.4 points per game. Carter follows averaging 16.8 points per game.
In Big 12 play alone, the Aggie senior pair average 18.7 points per game each, which is third-best in the league. Elonu's 9.7 rebounds per game in conference play ranks fourth-best and Bone leads the Big 12 with 4.3 offensive boards per game.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE

Iowa State University is located in Ames, Iowa, has an enrollment of 29,887 and was founded in 1858.
The Cyclones finished the 2010-11 season 22-10 overall and 9-7 (5^th) in Big 12 play.
ISU made its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance last season, before falling to Marist in the first round in Durham, N.C.
Iowa State has started 0-3 in Big 12 play for the first time in school history after a double-overtime loss at Kansas on Jan. 11.
The Cyclones are led by Chelsea Poppens with 14.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. She is the only player averaging double figures.
ISU finished fourth nationally in attendance last season (9,370 average attendance) and is leading the Big 12 this year with an average of 8,988 fans at each game.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

TEXAS A&M
No.	Name	2011-12 Stats
32	Adrienne Pratcher, G, 5-7, Jr.	7.1 ppg, 4.9 apg
04	Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, Sr.	12.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg
20	Tyra White, G, 6-0, Sr.	14.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg
21	Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Sr.	11.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg
03	Kelsey Bone, C, 6-4, Jr.	12.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg

IOWA STATE
No.	Name	2011-12 Stats
04	Nikki Moody, G, 5-8, Fr.	9.1 ppg, 4.6 apg
05	Hallie Christofferson, F, 6-3, So.	9.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg
23	Chassidy Cole, G, 5-8, Sr.	1.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg
33	Chelsea Poppens, F, 6-2, Jr.	14.3 ppg, 11.7 rpg
55	Anna Prins, C, 6-7, Jr.	8.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg

STATISTICAL COMPARISON
2011-12 Category	TAMU	ISU
Overall Record	10-4	9-5
Conference Record	1-2	0-3
Points Per Game	72.0	64.5
Scoring Margin	+10.2	+9.1
Rebounds Per Game	42.9	41.8
Rebounding Margin	+8.7	+8.6
Field Goal Percentage	42.2	39.6
Field Goal% Defense	41.0	35.9
3-Point FG%	25.4	30.1
Free Throw Percentage	63.4	68.1
Turnovers Per Game	16.1	16.2
Assists Per Game	15.7	15.5
Blocks Per Game	4.6	2.9
Steals Per Game	9.9	7.0

INSIDE THE SERIES

Iowa State leads 14-6 in the all-time series against Texas A&M. The Aggies, however, have won four out of the last five meetings between the two schools.
Last season, A&M earned its first victory in Ames, Iowa, and returns in back-to-back years for the first time in the history of the series. ISU holds a 7-1 advantage at home against the Aggies.
A&M faces an unranked ISU team for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 6-5 lifetime versus Iowa State in his 27 years as a Division I head coach. All of his six career victories against the Cyclones have been while at the helm of the Aggies.
Blair and Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly are known as a couple of the friendliest and most respected in the coaching profession. Blair (606) and Fennelly (529), who is in his 24^th year as a Division I head coach, rank No. 1 and No. 2 among current Big 12 coaches in overall career victories - more than a 1,100 combined wins by the two deans of the league.

LAST FIVE GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 60-46 (+14) on Feb. 20, 2008 in College Station
W, 65-53 (+12) on March 13, 2008 in Kansas City
L, 50-67 (-17) on Feb. 4, 2009 in Ames
W, 68-44 (+24) on Jan. 13, 2010 in College Station
W, 60-51 (+9) on Jan. 22, 2011 in Ames

IOWA STATE REWIND

Danielle Adams scored 25 points and No. 5 Texas A&M beat 20th-ranked Iowa State 60-51 on Saturday, snapping the Cyclones 19-game home winning streak. Sydney Carter added 13 for the Aggies (17-1, 5-0 Big 12), who picked up their 11th straight win behind a second straight strong effort by Adams. Texas A&M handed the Cyclones their first loss at home since Nebraska beat them 57-49 in last season's league opener. Adams, who finished with 12 rebounds, had 14 points in the second half as Texas A&M pushed a slim lead to 56-44 with 4:38 to go. The Cyclones got to 56-51 with 1:17 left before the Aggies sealed the game at the free-throw line. Kelsey Bolte had 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cyclones, who lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Iowa State had a week off to prepare for the surging Aggies. That wasn't nearly enough time to find an answer for the versatile and physical Adams. Mansfield had 13 points and six assists for Iowa State..

AGGIES' BIG 12 START

The Aggies are off to a 1-2 start in Big 12 play. The last time Texas A&M began its conference slate 1-2 was in 2007-08. The team finished with an 11-5 league record - tied for third - and went on to win the program's first Big 12 Postseason title before an NCAA Tournament run to the Elite Eight.

CARTER HEATING UP

Although Sydney Carter started the season on somewhat of a shooting slump, she has really heated up since conference play began. Carter was shooting just 18.8 percent from beyond the arc and 31.0 percent from the floor in non-conference play, but in Big 12 games, she has increased her numbers to 33.3 percent from 3-point range and 44.4 percent from the field. In fact, Carter currently ranks sixth on A&M's career list for 3-point field goal percentage (35.4%).

BLAIR APPROACHING 200 WINS AT A&M

Gary Blair recently reached his 600^th career win as a Division I head coach and he is about to reach another coaching milestone. Blair is two wins away from his 200^th victory as head coach of the Fightin' Texas Aggies.
He is already the all-time winningest coach in program history with 198 wins and a .705 winning percentage (198-83). 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.

RPI RATING

In the most recent release of the NCAA RPI on Jan. 9, Texas A&M was ranked eighth. Tennessee holds the top spot followed by Baylor, Delaware, Stanford, Connecticut, Maryland and Notre Dame. Kansas State and Rutgers round out the top 10.

DEFENDERS OF THE HOME COURT

Despite a recent loss to Texas at home, Texas A&M has protected its home court well over the last seven seasons with the help of the 12th Man. In fact, the Aggies have compiled an unprecedented 88-9 (.907) overall success rate at Reed Arena in those years, including a 13-1 mark last season and a perfect 16-0 home stand in 2006-07.
The Aggies have won 48 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 82 home games.

AGGIES' AT REED ARENA (SINCE 2005-06)

2011-12	6-1
2010-11	13-1
2009-10	12-2
2008-09	13-1
2007-08	14-2
2006-07	16-0
2005-06	14-2
Total	87-8

AGGIE ATTENDANCE

Texas A&M finished its 2010-11 regular season averaging a program-best 6,104 fans at each home game, which ranked fourth-best in the Big 12 and 12^th-best in the country in attendance. A&M has been in the top 25 in national attendance for the past four seasons.
After seven home games this season, the Aggies are averaging 6,314 fans per game.

AGGIES IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

The Aggies are 94-16 (.855) in non-conference play in the Gary Blair Era (2003-Present) and turned in their eighth consecutive non-conference season with just two or less losses in Coach Blair's ninth overall season in Aggieland.

GARY BLAIR ERA NON-CONFERENCE RECORD
2003-04:	7-4
2004-05:	9-1
2005-06:	11-2
2006-07:	10-2
2007-08:	12-2
2008-09:	12-1
2009-10:	12-1
2010-11:	12-1
2011-12:	9-2
Totals:	94-16 (.855)

TWO TOUGHEST ROAD TESTS

In the history of Texas A&M women's basketball, #13 Purdue and #2 Connecticut were the highest-ranked opponents the Aggies have ever faced consecutively on the road.
The Aggies came away with two tough losses, but had not dropped two consecutive games since February 2010.

PRESSURE DEFENSE

Texas A&M is known for its pressure defense and forced its first six opponents into season high turnovers: Lamar (28), Louisville (27), UALR (24), Mississippi State (18), Temple (27) and Iowa (25).

AGGIES IN THE POLLS

A&M has been ranked in the AP Poll for 74 consecutive weeks and 55 all-time in the top 10
A&M has been ranked in the Coaches Poll for 110 consecutive weeks and 60 all-time in the top 10.

TWELVE STRAIGHT

Prior to their loss at Purdue, the Aggies had won 12 straight games (including six from last season) which matched a school-record 12-game streak that occurred on three other occasions - during the 2010-11, 2008-09 and 2007-08 seasons.

BLAIR GETS 600^TH WIN

With a victory over Mississippi State on Nov. 20, 2011, A&M head coach Gary Blair earned his 600^th career win as a Division I head coach. The victories included 192 at A&M (2003-present), 198 at Arkansas (1993-03) and 210 at Stephen F. Austin (1985-93) for 600 total wins.
Blair became the 25^th-fastest all-time coach (in all divisions) to reach 600 victories, the 22^nd all-time Division I coach and the 36^th all-time coach (in all divisions) to reach 600 victories. He is one of just 13 active Division I coach with 600 victories.

2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

In April, Texas A&M won its first NCAA National Championship in program history in its first-ever trip to the NCAA Women's Final Four and eighth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance.
Texas A&M ended the season with a 33-5 record, the most victories in program history. It was the first 30-win season in 37 all-time season of Aggie Basketball.
Texas A&M made 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.
A&M received a program-best No. 1 national ranking in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll, improving on its previous school-best of No. 3 in the Coaches Poll in 2008.

WHAT'S BACK

The Aggies return three starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's national championship squad, including Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention Sydney Carter (DeSoto, Texas), senior Adaora Elonu (Houston, Texas), and Preseason All-Big 12 Tyra White (Kansas City, Mo.).

AGGIES PICKED SECOND IN BIG 12

A&M was selected to finish second in the Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll. The Aggies received one first-place vote and 73 points, listed only behind preseason favorite Baylor (81).
A&M was picked second for the second consecutive year, which is its highest spot in the preseason poll since the team was chosen as the favorite prior to the 2007-08 season.
For the sixth consecutive year, the Aggies were selected among the top five teams in the league. A&M was the preseason favorite to win the regular-season title in 2007-08 (Big 12 postseason champion and NCAA Elite Eight), picked second in 2006-07 (Big 12 regular-season co-champion), fifth in 2008-09 (NCAA Sweet 16), fourth in 2009-10 (Big 12 postseason champion) and second in 2010-11 (NCAA National Champions)

2011-12 Big 12 Preseason Poll

1.	Baylor (9)	81
2.	Texas A&M (1)	73
3.	Texas	60
4.	Oklahoma	58
5.	Iowa State	43
6.	Texas Tech	37
7.	Kansas	35
8.	Oklahoma State	30
9.	Kansas State	23
10.	Missouri	10

WHAT'S NEW

For the third straight year, Texas A&M welcomes one of its highest-ever rated recruiting class with the addition of three freshmen in 6-foot-7 center Rachel Mitchell out of Atascocita High School in Houston, 5-foot-10 guard Tori Scott from John Ehret High School in Marrero, La., and 5-foot-8 guard and Big 12 Preseason Co-Freshman of the Year Alexia Standish out of Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas. This class was ranked as high as No. 3 in the country by The Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.

CARTER TAKES CHARGE

Texas A&M is known for its signature defense and Sydney Carter is its spokeswoman, regularly given the daunting task of guarding the opponent's best perimeter player. Her play has earned her a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive team last year and she took home the team's Miss Defense Award the past two seasons. Add to that, the fact that she has led the team in charges taken every year she's been at A&M.

Carter's Charges:
29 - Junior (2010-11)
28 - Sophomore (2009-10)
12 - Freshman (2008-09)

FROM THE SIDELINES

Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is in his 27th overall season as a Division I head coach. He currently ranks in the top 15 in career victories (606) and in the top 25 by winning percentage (.711) among active Division I coaches in the NCAA women's basketball record books.
Blair is one of only three all-time NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches to lead two different teams to the NCAA Women's Final Four (Texas A&M and Arkansas) next to C. Vivian Stringer (Rutgers, Iowa and Cheyney) and Marianne Stanley (Stanford and Old Dominion).
Blair is one of only four active Division I coaches (six all-time) to lead three different programs to the NCAA Tournament next to Stringer of Rutgers, Joanne P. McCallie of Duke and Jim Foster of Ohio State. 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.

TEXAS RECAP
TEXAS A&M 71, TEXAS 76

TEAM NOTES

For the second time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Alexia Standish, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Bone... It marked the second career start for Standish, the 12^th of Bone's Aggie career, the 85^th for White and 88^th for Elonu.
Texas A&M moves to 23-59 in the all-time series with Texas, but have still won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two schools.
Texas A&M moves to 4-3 on TV this season.
The Aggies had a season-best 11 blocked shots against UT, which was the most since Jan. 22, 2011 at Iowa State.
A&M dished out 18 assists, its second-most this season.
The loss was the first at home against a non-ranked opponent since A&M fell 59-73 to Nebraska on Feb. 16, 2005.
The crowd of 7,587 was sixth all-time in single game attendance for the A&M women.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

White has now started in 72 straight games, a streak that started on Jan. 4, 2010 against Lamar.
White has scored double figures in 21 of her last 22 games.
Elonu tallied her sixth career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Elonu tallied a career-high five blocked shots.
As part of her career-high 25 points, Carter was a season-best 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Standish had career bests with five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Karla Gilbert added a season-high three blocked shots.

COMING IN 2012-13

Next season, Blair and his coaching staff will welcome A&M's highest-ever rated recruiting class that was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz, The Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, Premier Basketball Report and All-Star Girls Report. The Aggie signees were: 5-foot-10 wing Chelsea Jennings from Fort Worth, Texas, 5-foot-6 point guard Jordan Jones from DeSoto, Texas, 5-foot-7 combo guard Curtyce Knox from Humble, Texas, six-foot wing Peyton Little from Abilene, Texas, 5-foot-8 wing Courtney Walker from Edmond, Okla., and 6-foot-1 forward/guard Courtney Williams from Houston.