COLLEGE STATION -- The preseason No. 16-ranked Texas A&M women’s basketball team (0-0) ushers in another brand new season with an early marquee matchup against one of the most successful programs in the last decade in sixth-ranked and perennial powerhouse Duke (1-0) on Sunday, Nov. 15 at Reed Arena.

The Aggies and Blue Devils will tipoff a much-anticipated rematch at 2 p.m. (CT). With the loss of three starters including program greats in all-time leading scorer Takia Starks, Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux, the Aggies may be young, but are full of talent to continue the program’s presence on the national stage. It’s been 12 years since A&M opened up the season at home with a top 10-ranked opponent.

The Aggies last hosted No. 10 Vanderbilt to tipoff the 1997-98 campaign under former head coach Candi Harvey, the last season played at G. Rollie White Coliseum prior to the opening of Reed Arena on campus. Both teams last met in the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA Oklahoma City Regional where the second-seeded Aggies beat third-seeded Duke, 77-63, en route to their first-ever trip to the NCAA Elite Eight.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are priced at $11 (courtside), $9 (mezzanine), $7 (gallery) and $5 (general admission) and can be purchased online at: www.12thManFoundation.com/tickets, in person at the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Office and Reed Arena Box Office or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.

AGGIES IN HOME OPENERS

The Aggies are 16-3 all-time in home openers and have won their last six consecutive opening day contests at Reed Arena including a 73-45 victory over Mercer in 2008-09. A&M is 3-0 when commencing the season at home in the Gary Blair Era which includes a 77-36 rout of Saint Peter’s in 2005-06 and a 72-48 win over Pepperdine in 2006-07.

SCOUTING DUKE

Duke will play its second game in three days in the Lone Star State after a 104-35 blowout at Division I provisional school Houston Baptist in its season opener on Nov. 13. The Blue Devils posted a 27-6 overall record last season and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. One of the nation’s premier women’s basketball programs, Duke has made 11 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, seven Elite Eight appearances and four Final Four appearances since 1992. Junior Karima Christmas is the lone Texan on the 11-player roster and is a product out of Houston’s J. Frank Dobie High School. She averaged 7.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2008-09. The Blue Devils, under the direction of third-year head coach Joanne P. McCallie, also boast preseason second team All-America Jasmine Thomas who was the team’s second-leading scorer averaging 10.2 ppg a year ago.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

TEXAS A&M

No. Name 2008-09 Stats

51 Sydney Colson, G, 5-8, Jr. 6.5 ppg, 3.0 apg

20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. 5.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg

22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. 10.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg

21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. 4.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg

2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. 1.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg

DUKE

No. Name 2008-09 Stats

5 Jasmine Thomas, G, 5-9, Jr. 10.2 ppg, 3.3 apg

13 Karima Christmas, G/F, 5-11, Jr. 7.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg

15 Bridgette Mitchell, F/G, 6-0, Sr. 4.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg

21 Joy Cheek, F, 6-1, Sr. 8.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg

34 Krystal Thomas, C, 6-4, Jr. 4.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg

STATISTICAL COMPARISON

2008-09 Category TAMU DUKE

Overall Record 27-8 27-6

Conference Record 11-5 11-3

Points Per Game 68.2 72.1

Scoring Margin +12.8 +14.5

Rebounds Per Game 37.0 44.7

Rebounding Margin +1.2 +7.6

Field Goal Percentage 43.3 41.0

Field Goal% Defense 37.2 34.9

Three-Point FG% 32.8 32.0

Free Throw Percentage 69.1 69.5

Turnovers Per Game 15.1 19.1

Assists Per Game 13.1 13.6

Blocks Per Game 3.9 5.8

Steals Per Game 11.9 13.3

SERIES HISTORY

Texas A&M leads 2-0 in the all-time series versus the Blue Devils. Only two players on the A&M roster, Damitria Buchanan and Sydney Colson, and five players on the Duke roster, Joy Cheek, Jasmine Thomas, Bridgette Mitchell, Keturah Jackson and Krystal Thomas, saw action in both team’s last meeting in the semifinals of the NCAA Oklahoma City Regional on March 30, 2008 at the Ford Center. In the first game of the series, the then No. 16-ranked Blue Devils under former head coach Gail Goestenkors suffered an 83-73 setback to the Candi-Harvey-coached Aggies in the second round of the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Nov. 17, 1995. A&M, eight months removed from winning its 1995 NWIT Championship title, hosted Duke at G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station. Sunday’s matchup will mark the Blue Devils’ second-ever road trip to Aggieland in the month of November (1995 and 2009).

AGAINST THE ACC

The Aggies are 2-4 all-time against opponents hailing from the Atlantic Coast Conference including Duke (2-0), Florida State (0-1), Miami (0-2) and Wake Forest (0-1). A&M has faced an ACC school in each of the last three seasons including a 60-53 loss at FSU on Jan. 5, 2009 in Tallahassee, Fla.

AGGIE TOP 10 HITS

Last season, A&M went 1-1 versus top 10 competition at Reed Arena including a memorable 57-56 last-second victory over No. 2 Oklahoma on Feb. 23, 2009. The Aggies have never beaten a non-conference top 10 opponent on their home court in the 35-year history of the program. A&M has only faced three top 25 opponents in non-conference play at home with No. 16 Duke in 1995-96, No. 10 Vanderbilt in 1997-98 and No. 14 Auburn in 2007-08.

TEXAS A&M’S TOP 10 HOME WINS

W, 67-64 vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (2/5/94) at G. Rollie White Coliseum

W, 78-73 vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (2/8/95) at G. Rollie White Coliseum

W, 88-71 vs. No. 5 Iowa State (1/12/02) at Reed Arena

W, 60-52 vs. No. 9 Baylor (1/13/07) at Reed Arena

W, 78-68 vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (2/10/07) at Reed Arena

W, 72-53 vs. No. 8 Baylor (3/1/08) at Reed Arena

W, 73-59 vs. No. 10 Oklahoma (3/6/08) at Reed Arena

W, 57-56 vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (2/23/09) at Reed Arena

PLAYING TEXAS A&M HOLD ‘EM

Under Blair and associate head coach Vic Schaefer, known as the “Secretary of Defense,” Texas A&M has taken pride in its signature in-your-face defense. Over the last three years, the Aggies have ranked among the top 25 teams in the country in scoring defense holding opponents to 55.4 points a game (24th) in 2008-09, 54.8 points (14th) in 2007-08 and 53.6 points (7th) in 2006-07. Last season, A&M also held opponents to just a 26.1 percent accuracy from behind the three-point arc which was fifth best in the nation.

FROM THE SIDELINES

• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair begins his 25th overall season as a Division I head coach. He currently ranks 19th all-time in career victories (537) and 29th all-time by winning percentage (.701) among active Division I coaches in the NCAA women’s basketball record books. Blair is the winningest coach in school history with a .662 percentage (129-66) and needs 26 more wins to surpass former head coach Lynn Hickey (154) in career victories.

• Blair and Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie are one of only four active Division I coaches (five all-time) to lead three different programs to the NCAA Tournament next to C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers and Jim Foster of Ohio State. Blair previously coached at Stephen F. Austin (1985-93) and Arkansas (1993-03) and McCallie at Maine (1992-2000) and Michigan State (2000-07). Blair and Stringer are the only two coaches to guide three different teams to the NCAA Sweet 16.

• Blair is 2-2 lifetime versus Duke, while McCallie is 0-1 against Texas A&M. All four of Blair’s all-time meetings with the Blue Devils have been memorable moments in each of his program’s history. Arkansas reached the 1998 Final Four with a 77-72 win over Duke in the NCAA West Regional finals and A&M reached the 2008 Elite Eight with a 77-63 victory versus the Blue Devils in the Oklahoma City Regional semifinals.

• With the Veteran’s Day parade and celebration taking place this weekend in the Bryan-College Station area, it’s important to note that Blair is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, while McCallie’s father was a veteran pilot in the U.S. Navy.

DEFENDERS OF THE HOME COURT

Texas A&M has protected its home court well over the last four seasons with the help of the 12th Man. In fact, the Aggies have compiled an unprecedented 57-5 (.919) overall success rate at Reed Arena including the second-fewest home losses in school history with a 13-1 mark in 2008-09 and a perfect 16-0 home stand in 2006-07. A&M has won its last six consecutive contests in the venue dating back to a 73-60 win over Kansas on Jan. 31, 2009. The five tallies in the home loss column have only occurred during Big 12 Conference play against nationally-ranked league foes.

AGGIES’ LAST FOUR YEARS AT REED ARENA

2008-09 13-1

2007-08 14-2

2006-07 16-0

2005-06 14-2

NOW BOARDING, ELITE STATUS MEMBERS

A&M made its fourth consecutive appearance in the preseason ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Top 25 Poll on Nov. 4. The Aggies were picked No. 16 nationally after coming off a successful 27-8 NCAA Sweet 16 campaign in 2008-09. They are among a select number of schools to have received one of the top four seeds on Selection Monday and made back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances over the last two years. A&M returns 11 letterwinners including preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Tanisha Smith and the sixth-rated recruiting class in the nation which includes preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and National JUCO Player of the Year Danielle Adams.

AGGIES PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH

For the fourth consecutive year, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team was picked to finish among the top five teams in the league in the preseason Big 12 Conference Coaches Poll. Coming off back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 and Big 12 postseason championship game appearances, the Aggies were predicted to finish fourth and received one first-place vote with 87 points behind preseason favorite Baylor (109) and second-place vote-getters Kansas (106) and Texas (106). 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) and fifth in 2008-09 (NCAA Sweet 16).

EXHIBITION RECAP

Texas A&M 84, OCU 52

• Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Tyra White, Tanisha Smith, Adaora Elonu and Damitria Buchanan.

• The Aggies’ post players combined for 44 of the team’s 84 total points versus Oklahoma City University.

• The A&M defense held OCU to 52 points for the entire ballgame. The Stars previously averaged 90 points a game in their first two contests of the season against Langston (82) and Central Oklahoma (98).

• The Aggies converted 35 OCU turnovers into 41 points and A&M outrebounded the Stars, 41-29.

• Texas A&M associate head coach Vic Schaefer and OCU head coach Rob Edmisson led the U.S. Women’s William Jones Cup Team to a bronze medal in the summer of 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan.

AGGIES TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

Texas A&M annually plays one of the toughest schedules in the country packed with tough non-conference opponents and as a member of the No. 1-rated women’s basketball conference in the nation in the Big 12. This season is no different as the Aggies will start off tough from the get-go with the likes of Duke, Auburn and California, all top 15 programs a year ago, in their first six games of the season. They will also face Arizona State in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 19 in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Sweet 16 game in the Trenton Regional. Other notable early matchups include road tests at old Southwest Conference rival TCU on Dec. 12, Gonzaga on Dec. 20 and New Mexico on Dec. 30.

KANSAS CITY SOUTH

Three Aggies, including two of the team’s top returning scorers, are Kansas City natives and look forward to returning to their hometown for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship at Municipal Auditorium in March. Redshirt sophomore Tyra White, a McDonald’s All-American out of Hickman Mills High School, was the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2008 and 2009. She is joined by Smith and Adams who are also KCMO products out of Lincoln Prep and Lee’s Summit High School respectively. Last season, Smith was the team’s third-leading scorer averaging 10.6 ppg and White the team’s fifth-leading scorer with 5.2 ppg.

BLAIR NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“There is a reason our program has been selected as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament over the last two years, because of our strength of schedule. So many other teams in the country play weaker opponents first, to see where they are as a team and to give all of their kids playing time. Every day, our young kids are playing against a top 20 team in practice and are getting better against their own team. If we are ever going to continue to build this program, attendance wise, we have to educate our fans what national women’s basketball powers are all about. In years to come, I would love to have a Stanford, Tennessee or Connecticut visit Reed Arena. They are not going to come, if we are only able to attract 3,000-4,000 fans. They are all used to sellout crowds in November and December and that’s what we are trying to build up to.” – Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on bringing in perennial top-ranked teams in the non-conference season to Reed Arena

“It’s a risk-reward situation and early on, it’s not going to be a make or break for either team. This is a program saving time for Texas A&M and a normal type of game for Duke. We are trying to bring in these caliber teams and show them what January and February are like to play in the Big 12 at Reed Arena. I’m willing to risk playing a team that has been to the Final Four four times. I have treasured every ballgame against Duke in my career. It has made my programs better and me better as a coach. We beat them to go to the Final Four in 1998, which was the greatest win in the history of the Arkansas program and we beat them to go to the Elite Eight in 2008, which was the greatest win in the history of Texas A&M. I have so much respect for competition and the national programs. We consider ourselves a national program right now. I want to gain the same respect that the Duke’s of the world and the programs that have been to the Final Four have. In order to do that, you have to play them.” – Coach Blair on the early marquee matchup with Duke

“In the last four years, I had a pretty good inkling who was going to the press room with me after a game. We are still trying to establish who our go-to players and go-to leaders are on this team. We have a lot of possibilities this year. Our kids will earn their way in practice. Maybe, our better players will come off the bench and we will see which of our freshmen are going to emerge and will fit in the rotation. It will take November and December for us to go through a 13-game non-conference schedule to get into a routine.” – Coach Blair on this year’s team

“Our job in the non-conference is to get prepared for the Big 12. We have the top three teams in the league, Texas, OU and Baylor, to start off with on the road, so you better play some people early to get yourself ready. We will play a veteran TCU team in Fort Worth and play New Mexico at the Pit, arguably one of the toughest women’s basketball venues in the country. We are also going out to the West Coast to play Cal. It could backfire on us, but the NCAA only looks at wins and losses and who you played. We know we are going to take some hits early, but hopefully, the best way to learn is through winning.” – Coach Blair on the tough non-conference scheduling

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 Reed Arena alongside color analyst Tap Bentz on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.