#2 TEXAS A&M (25-7) vs. #12 PORTLAND STATE (18-14)

NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship First Round

Game #33

March 20, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)

Bank of America Arena (10,000)

at Seattle, Wash.

Television: ESPN2

Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)

Series History: Portland State Leads 1-0

Internet: Free Live Statistics and Live Audio at www.AggieAthletics.com

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

The ninth-ranked and Big 12 Conference champion Texas A&M women’s basketball team (25-7) will slip on a pair of ruby slippers in preparation for the program’s fifth consecutive trip to the Big Dance this weekend in the Emerald City. For the third-straight year, the Aggies gained admission to the ball as a No. 2 seed in the Sacramento Regional by way of winning nine of their last 10 games of the season and earning their second Big 12 postseason championship title and third-ever automatic bid to the field of 64. A&M will face 15th-seeded and Big Sky Conference champion Portland State (18-14) in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship to be held on Saturday, March 20 at Bank of America Arena in Seattle, Wash. Tipoff between the Aggies and Vikings is set for 7 p.m. (CT) on ESPN2. The Aggies will look to hold off a Cinderella and upset-minded PSU squad which has won three-straight and will be playing about 173 miles north of Interstate 5 from home. The winner will move on to the second round and meet either seventh-seeded and 14th-ranked Gonzaga (27-4) or 10th-seeded and tradition-rich Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse North Carolina (19-11) on Monday, March 22 at 8:30 p.m. (CT). The Aggies have won each of their last three opening-round games since 2007.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ESPN COVERAGE

Texas A&M will appear on the deuce for the second time this season behind an ESPN2 Big Monday appearance versus Baylor on Feb. 22 in College Station. Play-by-play announcer Allen Hopkins and color analyst Krista Blunk will call first-and second-round action live from Bank of America Arena located on the campus of host University of Washington nestled off of picturesque Lake Washington and Husky Stadium. The game will be televised on a regional basis in the state of Texas and Oregon on ESPN2. DirectTV viewers should tune their dial to the ESPN alternate channels in the 210s, while Dish Network viewers will find the ESPN alternate channels in the 140s. Cable subscribers should use their normal ESPN/ESPN2 channel(s). The game will also be offered via ESPN360.com.

AGGIES IN NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY

The Aggies are 8-6 all-time in postseason play and are making their seventh all-time NCAA Tournament appearance next to 1994, 1996, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair has now led 16 of his all-time squads at Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas and A&M combined to the Big Dance with a 20-15 career record in NCAA Tournament games. He is one of only two Division I women’s basketball coaches to take three teams to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Aggies are one of eight top seeds in this year’s 64-team field including top seeds in Connecticut, Nebraska, Stanford, Tennessee, Duke, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Last year, A&M reached the Sweet 16 for the second-straight year, but lost to sixth-seeded Arizona State (84-69) in the semifinals of the Trenton Regional. 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. Ironically, the Aggies will be staying at the same No. 2 seed hotel in Seattle which kicked off the first leg of the Lady Bears’ 2005 national title run that included stops in Tempe, Ariz., and later the Women’s Final Four in Indianapolis.

THE AGGIES’ DANCE CARD

With the second-toughest schedule in the nation according to the Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women’s College Basketball Ratings, A&M had four non-conference opponents earn NCAA Tournament berths including West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga, ACC champion and second-seeded Duke, ninth-seeded TCU and Southland Conference champion and 14th-seeded Lamar. The Aggies were one of seven Big 12 schools to dance in March along with top-seeded Nebraska, third-seeded Oklahoma, fourth-seeded Oklahoma State, fourth-seeded Iowa State, fourth-seeded Baylor and sixth-seeded Texas. They went a conference-best 11-5 against ranked opponents this season and were one of 31 automatic qualifiers in the field after reeling off victories over three consecutive top-15 ranked opponents in No. 15 Texas in the quarterfinals, No. 3 and undefeated Nebraska in the semifinals and No. 12 Oklahoma in the finals of the 2010 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship held on March 11-14 in Kansas City.

A LOOK AT PORTLAND STATE

Portland State is one of five teams in the field making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance under third-year head coach Sherri Murrell who previously spent five seasons in the Evergreen State and Pac-10 Conference at Washington State from 2003-07. Like the A&M, the Vikings won three-straight games in their postseason conference tournament over Idaho State (75-61) in the quarterfinals, Montana (62-47) in the semifinals and Montana State (62-58) in the championship game to earn the conference’s automatic bid. PSU is led by senior point guard and three-time All-Big Sky First Team selection Claire Faucher, a native of Yakima, Wash., who currently ranks fifth nationally in assists (6.6 avg) while adding a team-leading 13.6 ppg to her versatile game.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

TEXAS A&M

No. Name 2009-10 Stats

4 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, So. 7.8 ppg, 3.4 apg

20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, RS-So. 10.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg

22 Tanisha Smith, G/F, 6-0, Sr. 15.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg

21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, So. 8.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg

2 Damitria Buchanan, F, 6-2, Sr. 3.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg

PORTLAND STATE

No. Name 2009-10 Stats

10 Claire Faucher, G, 5-9, Sr. 13.6 ppg, 6.6 apg

21 Eryn Jones, G, 5-8, So. 10.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg

33 Lexi Bishop, G, 5-8, Jr. 6.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg

4 Erin Yankus, F, 6-2, Sr. 7.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg

14 Kate DePaepe, F, 6-1, Jr. 4.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg

GONZAGA

No. Name 2009-10 Stats

21 Courtney Vandersloot, G, 5-8, Jr. 14.6 ppg, 9.3 apg

34 Tiffanie Shives, G, 5-10, Sr. 8.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg

11 Janelle Bekkering, G, 6-0, Jr. 5.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg

12 Vivian Frieson, F, 6-0, Sr. 12.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg

30 Heather Bowman, F, 6-2, Sr. 15.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg

NORTH CAROLINA

No. Name 2009-10 Stats

22 Cetera DeGraffenreid, G, 5-6, Jr. 14.3 ppg, 5.0 apg

50 Italee Lucas, G, 5-8, Jr. 14.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg

21 Krista Gross, G, 6-0, Fr. 1.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg

44 Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, G, 5-10, Fr. 6.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg

20 Chay Shegog, F, 6-5, So. 8.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg

STATISTICAL COMPARISON

2009-10 Category TAMU PSU GU UNC

Overall Record 25-7 18-14 27-4 19-11

Conference Record 10-6 9-7 14-0 7-8

Points Per Game 75.4 68.2 80.9 76.5

Scoring Margin +15.2 +2.5 +23.3 +9.8

Rebounds Per Game 39.0 38.1 41.6 46.7

Rebounding Margin +2.6 -0.5 +5.2 +4.6

Field Goal Percentage 45.8 40.8 47.8 41.4

Field Goal% Defense 37.0 41.2 35.6 36.7

Three-Point FG% 35.9 32.5 32.3 29.3

Free Throw Percentage 69.4 67.4 73.9 64.9

Turnovers Per Game 15.4 16.3 15.7 20.4

Assists Per Game 16.0 14.7 19.4 15.4

Blocks Per Game 5.0 4.2 4.6 5.7

Steals Per Game 9.9 9.3 11.1 10.9

SERIES HISTORY

The Aggies have never faced North Carolina in the 36-year history of the program, while Portland State leads 1-0 in the all-time series and A&M leads 1-0 versus Gonzaga. The Vikings defeated the Aggies in double overtime (80-78) in the first round of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Classic on Nov. 17, 2001 under former head coach Peggie Gillom in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Meanwhile, the Aggies came away with an 80-76 victory over Gonzaga in both program’s first-ever meeting this season at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 20, 2009.

BULLDOG WATCH

Gonzaga has been on roll winning 18-straight contests since suffering only its fourth loss of the season to A&M in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 20. The Bulldogs received a program-best No. 7 seed and are guided by the floor leadership of the top point guard in the country in two-time WCC Player of the Year Courtney Vandersloot who is dishing out 9.3 assists per game. They are making their third all-time NCAA Tournament appearance under 10th-year head coach Kelly Graves. As a team, GU currently boasts the nation’s fifth-best scoring offense (80.9), second-best scoring margin (+23.3) and fourth-best field-goal shooting percentage (47.8).

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina is making its ninth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, but was a bubble team in this year’s tournament selection field having compiled a 19-11 overall record and under .500 ACC mark at 6-8. The Tar Heels closed out the regular season with a 64-54 win over archrival Duke on Feb. 28 prior to a 77-83 opening-round loss to Maryland in the ACC Tournament. UNC enters postseason play as a No. 10 seed for the first time in program history. They are paced by a pair of junior guards in All-ACC Second Team selection Italee Lucas who is averaging a team-leading 14.7 points per game along with All-ACC Third Teamer Cetera DeGraffenreid who currently ranks 10th nationally in steals per game (3.2 avg).

NCAA TOURNAMENT TIDBITS

• Texas A&M is making a school-record fifth-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 is one of only 17 Division I women’s basketball programs to make the NCAA Tournament field of 64 five years in a row next to defending national champion Connecticut, Tennessee, Georgia, Stanford, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Rutgers, LSU, Ohio State, Duke, Notre Dame, DePaul, Oklahoma, Florida State, Baylor and Temple.

• The Aggies are also one of only eight schools to have advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 or better over the last two years including Maryland, Louisville, Stanford, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt and Rutgers. Of those schools, only A&M, UConn, Vandy and Rutgers are playing in this year’s tournament field. The Aggies’ highest-finish was an Elite Eight appearance in 2008.

• Additionally, A&M is one of only three elite programs to receive a No. 2 seed or higher in each of the last three years along with Connecticut and Stanford. The Aggies’ previous program-best was a No. 4 seed leading into the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

THE DISH ON THE AGGIES

The Aggies like to share the basketball averaging a conference-leading 16.0 per game which currently ranks 20th nationally as of March 15. A&M’s unselfish play is evident on the stat sheet with three players on the roster having distributed 100-or-more assists this season, a first in program history and in the Gary Blair Era. Sophomore point guard Sydney Carter (110) and junior point guard Sydney Colson (122), affectionately known as the “Two Syds,” give A&M one of the strongest back courts in the nation complemented by senior combination guard/forward Tanisha Smith (112). Carter ranks 14th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.12, while Colson is 26th (1.97) having played limited minutes since missing four games this season with a stress reaction in her left fibula.

TEXAS A&M IN ELITE COMPANY

Over the last five years, Aggie Basketball has emerged on the national scene at full force and can be credited to the success of women’s coach Gary Blair and men’s coach Mark Turgeon on the court and in recruiting top talent to Aggieland. A&M is currently one of only 11 Division I schools in the country to have both its men’s and women’s basketball teams ranked in the top 25 national polls this season along with Tennessee, Xavier, Duke, Ohio State, West Virginia, Georgetown, Baylor, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Michigan State. The Aggies are in even more elite company as one of only three programs to have both of their men’s and women’s basketball teams make five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances next to Tennessee and Duke since 2006.

FROM THE SIDELINES

• Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair is 1-0 lifetime versus Portland State and Gonzaga in his 25 years as a Division I head coach. He last faced the Vikings in his fourth season as head coach at Stephen F. Austin in 1988-89 at the Northern Lights Invitational in Anchorage, Alaska. PSU, then coached by Greg Bruce, suffered a 100-65 rout by the Ladyjacks in the Last Frontier State.

• This will be Coach Blair’s second all-time trip to Seattle for an NCAA Tournament game. His fourth-ranked and second-seeded Stephen F. Austin squad lost to third-seeded Southern California and star player Lisa Leslie (61-57) in the semifinals of the 1992 West Regional. The game was held at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the UW campus – now renovated and renamed as Bank of America Arena. Top-seeded Stanford went on to defeat USC in the regional final en route to the national championship in Los Angeles.

• Blair and Portland State head coach Sherri Murrell both previously served on the WBCA/Kodak All-America Team selection committee together. Blair also coached current North Carolina assistant coach Charlotte Smith, the most decorated player in Tar Heel women’s basketball history, as a member of the U.S. Jones Cup Team which went undefeated and won the gold medal in the summer of 1996 in Taiwan.

• Current Texas A&M graduate assistant and former two-time Associated Press All-American honorable mention selection A’Quonesia Franklin (2005-08), also known as ‘Aqua’ to fans, is familiar with the Seattle area. Last summer, she signed a free agent contract with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and participated in training camp and preseason games. Franklin currently serves as a color analyst for A&M women’s basketball radio broadcasts this season. She played professional ball for the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs before being traded and released by the Phoenix Mercury. This past fall, she was called up by Seattle to provide back-up at the point in three games toward the end of the regular season, while former UConn All-American Sue Bird was sidelined with an injury.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RECAP

Texas A&M 74, Oklahoma 67

• For the nine time this year and ninth consecutive ballgame, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Tanisha Smith, Adaora Elonu and Damitria Buchanan (8-1).

• With the win, the Aggies claimed their second-ever Big 12 Conference postseason championship title next to their 2008 tournament run also made in Kansas City. It marked A&M’s third all-time conference tournament title in program history winning the final Southwest Conference Tournament championship game in 1996.

• The victory also gave the Aggies (25-7) their fifth all-time season with 25-or-more wins next to the 1978-79 (26-18), 2006-07 (25-7), 2007-08 (29-8) and 2008-09 (27-8) campaigns. It also marked Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair’s 154 career victory with the Aggies which ties former head coach Lynn Hickey (1984-94) as the all-time winningest coach in school history in career victories.

• A&M drained eight three-pointers in the ballgame against Oklahoma. It was the most against a league opponent this season and second most of the year behind a season-high nine versus No. 9 Duke in the season opener on Nov. 15. Ironically, the Aggies knocked down nine three-pointers in the 2008 title game.

• Danielle Adams was named the Big 12 Most Outstanding Player of the tournament joining former player and all-time leading scorer Takia Starks (2008) as the only two Aggies in school history to be honored as such. Adams averaged a team-leading 19.7 points and 7.0 rebounds in all three Big 12 Championship games combined. Meanwhile, Tyra White was selected to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team averaging 15.7 points a game including a trio of three-pointers versus OU.

AGGIE NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“We knew we were going to be a No. 2 seed and traveling out West. We will not be sleeping in Seattle. We will be going out there ready to play good basketball. We are playing by momentum and what we have learned over the last three weeks, because we’ve been playing really well during that time. When you lose three four-year starters (in Takia Starks, Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux), it takes awhile for the defense to kick in. Offensive talent was there. All we had to do was design a few plays and figure out what would work best with our personnel. We’ve gotten better and better ever since. We were pretty good early on with our offense – the defense has just taken a little bit longer. We’ve made some adjustments on defense due to personnel. You don’t see us playing the full-court pressure defense that we have in the past. Right now, we play very good half-court defense, whether it’s a zone or whether it’s a man. Did we have a lull in January? I don’t think we had a lull so much as having to play on the road at Texas, at Oklahoma, at Baylor and at Nebraska. No one else in our league had those first four road games to open up the season and throw in the loss at Texas Tech as our fifth road team. We got better as a basketball team (after that 1-5 road start). We are healthy and happy. Our coaching staff has done a great job of preparation. We want to make a run. Even though we won the Big 12 Tournament, this team is hungry and will be measured by what we do in the NCAA Tournament.” – Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair on the program’s fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and current six-game winning streak

“We look to take away people’s strengths and just play hard in every game. Portland State has a really good point guard (Claire Faucher) who we will pressure and try to disrupt. It’s a really big deal for us to earn a third consecutive No. 2 seed and fifth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That is what people should expect out of Texas A&M from now on. I’m happy we’ve gone dancing every year since I’ve been here. We definitely don’t think that’s all we can do. We will try to go as far as we can in the tournament and keep on playing hard. We are peaking at the right time. Earlier this season, we lost some really close games and our chemistry wasn’t great. We are now gelling as a team and our chemistry is a lot better. We are working a lot harder on both ends of the floor. I don’t know how many teams are like us in the country. We always have strong practices which keeps us conditioned. We weren’t tired after playing three-straight games in three days at the Big 12 Tournament. Some teams may have been tired at that point. We were scoring and were aggressive on defense. We were hungry and didn’t want it (another Big 12 title) to slip away a second time. The same mentality will be the case in the NCAA Tournament. We will fight through everything. We don’t lose anything when we have to go to our bench. We are not the same team as we were in December and January. We know how to maintain a lead better and remain focused on finishing a game out.” – Texas A&M junior point guard Sydney Colson on how hungry the team is heading into this year’s NCAA Tournament

“We will prepare for Portland State just like any other team that we play. (Claire) Faucher is another great point guard that I’ll have to defend and try to limit her touches and keep her from running her team. I’m a little more anxious this year to play in the NCAA Tournament, because I’m playing more and starting at the point this season. It’s great to have the opportunity as a sophomore to be a big part of this team. I’m ready for the challenge and I hope our team can go all the way to the Final Four in San Antonio. This team is so focused and playing together right now. We have been playing well offensively and have knocked down some good shots (in our last three ballgames in the Big 12 Tournament). I know we can improve our defense. We’re definitely not satisfied. We have a lot of work to do on the defensive end. If we can put those two parts together and play great on both ends of the floor, than we are going to be a very hard to team to beat.” – Texas A&M sophomore point guard Sydney Carter on the NCAA first-round matchup with Portland State and the reason behind the team’s recent success

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 Bank of America Arena 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.