KANSAS CITY, MO-- The 11th-ranked and fourth-seeded Texas A&M women’s basketball team (22-7) heads to Kansas City seeking a repeat of its memorable postseason championship title run in the same town and same venue just two short years ago in 2008. The Aggies are winners of their last six out of seven regular-season ballgames and hope to carry that momentum into this year’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Women’s Basketball Championship to be held on March 11-14 at Municipal Auditorium. It will be a big Kansas City homecoming for A&M’s top three leading scorers in All-Big 12 First Team selection Tanisha Smith (15.2 ppg), Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Danielle Adams (15.6 ppg) and Tyra White (10.2 ppg), who starred at high schools within the metro area. The trio has created a one-of-a-kind KC masterpiece in Aggieland, accounting for 54 percent of the team’s scoring production this season. They went off for a combined 44 points in the team’s regular-season finale victory at Kansas (78-54) in front of a mass gathering of family and friends on March 6 in Lawrence, Kan. The Aggies look forward for that pattern to continue this week. Over the past two years, the No. 4 seed has been a lucky charm for A&M resulting in back-to-back championship game appearances in 2008 and 2009. The Aggies will face either fifth-seeded Texas (21-9) or 12th-seeded Missouri (12-17) in quarterfinal action on Friday, March 12 at 1:30 p.m. (CT), with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Saturday. A&M is currently the second-highest ranked Big 12 team in the country behind undefeated and third-ranked Nebraska (29-0). The Aggies have played the fourth-toughest schedule in the nation and are tied with the Huskers (8-0) with a league-high eight wins (8-5) against top 25 opponents this season. Tournament victories or the league’s automatic bid can only improve their seeding as the NCAA Tournament field of 64 is announced on Selection Monday, March 15 on ESPN.

THE ROAD TO KANSAS CITY

For the fifth consecutive season, the Aggies earned one of four top seeds and a first-round bye going into postseason tournament play. They were joined by Big 12 regular-season champion and top-seeded Nebraska, second-seeded Iowa State (23-6) and third-seeded Oklahoma (21-9). The Aggies tied Texas for fourth-place in the final regular-season standings with a 10-6 mark, their fifth-straight 10-win campaign in league competition under head coach Gary Blair. They won the tiebreaker between the two in-state archrivals after sweeping the Longhorns in head-to-head competition in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown series. A&M is the only league school to earn a first-round bye in each of the last five league postseason tournaments.

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 Brent Stover and color analyst Debbie Antonelli will call Texas A&M’s quarterfinal game against Texas or Missouri live from Municipal Auditorium on FSN. Check your local listings.

AGGIES IN THE BIG 12 TOURNEY

Texas A&M is making up for its previous losses in a short period of time. The Aggies may be 8-12 all-time in Big 12 Championship games, but have put together an astounding 5-1 record over the last two years in postseason play. This will be the third-straight year in which A&M will vie for postseason hardware as the No. 4 seed in the tournament field. In fact, the Aggies (7-3) are tied with Oklahoma (7-2) and Iowa State (7-3) for the most Big 12 postseason victories compiled over the last four seasons. A&M sports a 4-1 record in the quarterfinals and last won three-straight in Kansas City en route to its first-ever Big 12 postseason championship title in 2008.

SCOUTING TEXAS

Texas won its last two ballgames of the Big 12 regular season including a 70-54 road victory at No. 14 Baylor on Senior Day in Waco minus freshman phenomenon Brittney Griner. The Longhorns put together their first 10-win season in league play and their first-ever series sweep of the Lady Bears in the Gail Goestenkors Era. They are paced by All-Big 12 Second Team performer Brittainey Raven who is averaging a team-leading 14.9 points per game and honorable mention selection Kathleen Nash who is bringing down 6.8 rebounds per game. Texas has one of the smallest rotations in the conference with eight active players on its roster. The Longhorns also currently rank eighth nationally in blocks per game (6.0) behind 6-foot-4 sophomore post Ashley Gayle’s 3.1 average.

EYEING THE TIGERS

Missouri hung on in overtime to beat Texas Tech (58-55) in both team’s regular-season finale on March 7. The win snapped a 10-game losing skid in Big 12 play and gave head coach Cindy Stein her overall 250th career victory. She will step down as head coach at the end of the season after 12 years at the school, but don’t count the Tigers out. Six of their regular-season league games were decided by five points or less. Both of their two wins of the season were against a pair of Big 12 South schools at home including Baylor (70-62) on Jan. 23 in Columbia, Mo. In 2008, the 12th-seeded Mizzou upset fifth-seeded Oklahoma to become the first No. 12 seed to do so in league history. MU is led by senior Jessra Johnson and junior RaeShara Brown who were both named All-Big 12 honorable mention selections and are averaging a team-best 12.7 and 10.0 points per game respectively.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

TEXAS A&M

No. Name 2009-10 Stats

4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, So. 8.1 ppg, 3.3 apg

20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. 10.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg

22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. 15.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg

21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. 8.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg

2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. 3.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg

TEXAS

No. Name 2009-10 Stats

33 Ashleigh Fontenette, G, 5-8, So. 9.9 ppg, 3.3 apg

10 Brittainey Raven, G, 6-0, Sr. 14.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg

00 Earnesia Williams, F, 6-1, RS-Sr. 6.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg

5 Kathleen Nash, F, 6-2, Jr. 12.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg

22 Ashley Gayle, C, 6-4, So. 5.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg

MISSOURI

No. Name 2009-10 Stats

23 RaeShara Brown, G, 5-8, Jr. 10.0 ppg, 3.2 apg

11 Toy Richbow, G, 5-6, Sr. 4.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg

3 Amanda Hanneman, F, 5-11, Sr. 8.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg

4 Jessra Johnson, F, 6-1, Sr. 12.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg

44 Shakara Jones, F, 6-2, Jr. 9.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg

STATISTICAL COMPARISON

2009-10 Category TAMU UT MU

Overall Record 22-7 21-9 12-17

Conference Record 10-6 10-6 2-14

Points Per Game 75.2 74.4 62.0

Scoring Margin +15.7 +10.5 +1.2

Rebounds Per Game 38.7 42.6 36.2

Rebounding Margin +2.7 +5.3 -2.3

Field Goal Percentage 45.8 42.8 37.8

Field Goal% Defense 36.9 37.5 41.4

Three-Point FG% 35.3 37.3 28.0

Free Throw Percentage 69.0 69.3 67.2

Turnovers Per Game 15.4 17.2 14.4

Assists Per Game 15.9 13.6 12.1

Blocks Per Game 5.1 6.0 3.9

Steals Per Game 9.9 8.0 8.5

SERIES HISTORY

Texas holds a 58-19 advantage in the all-times series with Texas A&M. However, the Aggies have won seven-straight including nine out of the last 10 meetings between the two storied rivals. They have never beaten the Longhorns three times in the same season, but came close to doing so during the 1997-98 campaign with a 98-74 win in the Big 12 First Round coupled with a 86-68 home victory at G. Rollie White Coliseum. A&M has not faced Texas in postseason play since an 83-72 first-round loss in Dallas in 2000. Meanwhile, Missouri is one of only two league schools next to Kansas in which A&M has a winning record against in the all-time series, 9-7. The Aggies last met Mizzou in the Big 12 Quarterfinals in 2008 which resulted in a 65-39 rout of the Tigers in Kansas City. A&M is 1-1 in Big 12 Tournament games all-time versus the Longhorns and Tigers.

THREE’S COMPANY

Three A&M players are on the verge of turning in 100+ assist seasons which would be a first in the Gary Blair Era. As a team, the Aggies currently lead the Big 12 in assists averaging 15.9 per game which also ranks 22nd nationally as of March 7. A&M is paced by the court vision of its “Two Syds” in junior point guard Sydney Colson and Sydney Carter in addition to the unselfish play of Tanisha Smith. All three rank among the top 11 distributors in the league with Colson averaging 4.2 assists per game which is sixth best followed by Smith in eighth (3.5) and Carter 11th (3.3). In fact, A&M is the only school with three playmakers ranked among the top 15 league leaders in the category. Colson (106) recorded her second consecutive 100+ assist season at Colorado on Feb. 27, while Smith (101) turned in her first at Kansas on March 6. Carter is four shy of the century mark in assists with 96.

HEAD OF THE CLASS

The 2010 Senior Class comprised of Damitria Buchanan, Katrina Limbaha and two-year contributor Tanisha Smith have been a part of three-straight NCAA Tournament squads and a 103-30 (.774) winning record since their arrival in Aggieland during the 2006-07 school year. They are one win away from tying the best record of any senior class in school history – a 104-32 (.765) mark set by all-time leading scorer Takia Starks, Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux from 2006-09 – who also made a school-record four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances that this year’s senior class will match come Selection Monday.

AGGIE TOURNAMENT SIDEBARS

• Texas A&M is the only Big 12 school to have both its men’s and women’s basketball squads earn a top four seed in this year’s tournament fields in Kansas City. The Aggies are also one of only two unique combos in the league currently ranked in the top 25 national polls on both the men’s and women’s side along with Baylor.

• A&M is the only Big 12 team to make consecutive semifinal appearances over the last four years, looking to make it a fifth in Kansas City. The Aggies are 2-2 all-time when playing in the semifinals.

• The Aggies have beaten the No. 1, No. 3, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7, No. 8 (twice) and No. 12 seeds all-time in the tournament. Of their eight overall victories, three were against Big 12 South opponents in top-seeded Oklahoma (2009), third-seeded Oklahoma State (2008) and seventh-seeded Texas (1998) and the remaining five versus the Big 12 North in fifth-seeded Kansas State (2009), sixth-seeded Nebraska (2006), eighth-seeded Colorado (2007), 12th-seeded Missouri (2008) and eighth-seeded Iowa State (2008). A&M has faced nine of the 11 member schools in postseason play and have appeared twice in the championship game since the league’s formation.

• Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Danielle Adams is no stranger to the Big 12 Championship. She attended the last one held in Kansas City and ironically, it was the same year in which A&M made its tournament run and beat Oklahoma State in the finals in 2008. The Aggies, however, were not recruiting her at the time. “I always knew I wanted to play in the Big 12 and have a chance at a conference championship,” Adams said. “I thought the Aggies played well throughout the tournament and I was really excited to watch them play their style of defense.”

KANSAS RECAP

Texas A&M 78, Kansas 54

• For the sixth time this year and sixth consecutive contest, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Tanisha Smith, Adaora Elonu and Damitria Buchanan (5-1).

• With the win, A&M has now won seven-straight in the all-time series with Kansas and picked up its fifth all-time win on the road at Allen Fieldhouse. The Aggies also take a one-game lead in the series at 8-7. Of their eight all-time victories, it was the most lopsided by a margin of 24 points. A&M’s 78 points tied the most points scored in the 15-game all-time series next to a 78-66 victory on Jan. 15, 2006 in Lawrence, Kan.

• Danielle Adams is currently on a four-game double-digit scoring streak with a game-high 18 points versus Kansas.

• Tanisha Smith turned in her first career 100+ assist season (101) with two assists against the Jayhawks. She also added 16 points in the winning cause.

• Adaora Elonu grabbed a game-and team-high seven of the team’s 36 rebounds in the ballgame. Elonu has now led the Aggies in the rebounding column on five occasions this season.

• A&M also shot a season-high tying 87.5 percent from the charity stripe (21-of-24) against the Jayhawks.

• The Aggie defense forced Kansas to 20 first-half turnovers which were more than its fewest of the season (11) against Kansas State on Feb. 7 and three short of its previous season-high of 23 versus Missouri on Jan. 17. It matched 20 first-half turnovers by North Texas versus A&M on Dec. 8. For the game, KU turned over the ball a season-high 30 times. It marked the third time this season an A&M opponent had 30-or-more miscues in a contest next to Stephen F. Austin (33) on Dec. 2 and North Texas (37).

AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“I’m proud of what we have done over the last four years in finishing (the regular season). We are 21-3 in our last six ballgames leading into the Big 12 Tournament. We’re not about a preseason schedule – we’re about February and March. That’s when we play well. We’ve always struggled in January, but we always get ourselves right back on track. When the schedule came out and we saw those first four road games (at Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor and Nebraska), it scared the heck out of us. We were 1-4 on the road including a loss at Texas Tech. We went back to practice, took care of business at home and won the games we were supposed to. We’ve played very well in our last seven-straight ballgames – the only one we really lost was the Baylor game (on Feb. 22). Our kids have played well and I have no complaints. I’m proud of this team, because they understand what postseason play is all about. My great thought of the day that I wrote on the board in the film room said, ‘Preseason is about work and prepare. The season is about work and compete. The postseason is about work, enjoy and win and the offseason is about reflect and work to get better.’ When you’re a basketball player or a coach, that’s the mentality you have to have and our team has done a great job of doing just that.” – Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on A&M’s strong finish leading up to the Big 12 Championship after an early-season slump

“It’s always a great opportunity to play back in my hometown and in front of a good crowd. But, it’s another business trip for us. We want to take care of business and add another Big 12 Championship to the Texas A&M women’s basketball program. We just have to keep our focus and work hard this week. We know it will be a great game not matter if we play Texas or Missouri (in the quarterfinals). It’s definitely not going to be an easy road for us.” – Texas A&M Junior Forward/Center Danielle Adams on returning home to Kansas City to play in the Big 12 Championship

“It will be nice to have my family there to watch me. We won the Big 12 Championship the last time we went to Kansas City my freshman year, but I was unable to play due to my ACL injury. Being able to play this year is going to be really exciting for me. We are going to prepare for both teams like we normally do in the regular season – go out there and focus on our defense and rebounding. For Texas, it’s important to stop their run and point guard play. With Missouri, it’s about slowing down their pace. We just want to play our game. We are on a roll right now. It’s good we’ve hit that peak at the right time. I don’t think anyone can stop us, if we just continue to play hard and smart.” – Texas A&M sophomore guard Tyra White on returning home to Kansas City and playing either Texas or Missouri in the quarterfinals

“We are not going to take anybody lightly. We are at a point in our season, where we consider the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament, a whole new part of our season. We had the preseason, the regular season and now this is the postseason. We are taking it as a challenge to go out there and get the job done this year. We finally have everyone on the same page and playing well together right now. The camaraderie is good and hopefully, it will translate over well onto the court. It doesn’t matter who we play. We are going to go out there and try to be as tenacious as possible on defense as we usually are and execute on offense.” – Texas A&M junior point guard Sydney Colson on traveling to the Big 12 Championship

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 and former player A’Quonesia Franklin on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.