COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 14 Texas A&M women’s basketball team puts its four-game winning streak on the line Saturday, Feb. 11 when the Aggies travel to top-ranked and undefeated Baylor. In one of the most anticipated matchups of the Big 12 Conference season, A&M looks to snap the Lady Bear’s 36-game home winning streak. Tipoff at the Ferrell Center is set for 5 p.m. and the game is televised live nationally on Fox Sports Net.
#15/14 TEXAS A&M (17-5, 8-3 Big 12) at #1/1 BAYLOR (24-0, 11-0 Big 12)
Game 23
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012 • 5:00 p.m. (CT)
Ferrell Center (10,284)
Waco, Texas
Television: FSN
Radio: Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Series History: Baylor leads 47-36
Internet: Free Live Audio and Live Stats at AggieAthletics.com
TEXAS A&M
Record: 17-5 (8-3 Big 12)
Ranking: #15 (AP), #14 (Coaches)
Last Result: W, 67-36 vs. Kansas State on 2/8/12
Up Next: at Missouri on 2/14/12
Head Coach: Gary Blair, Ninth Season
Texas A&M Record: 205-84 (.709)
Career Record: 613-247 (.713)
BAYLOR
Record: 24-0 (11-0 Big 12)
Ranking: #1 (AP), #1 (Coaches)
Last Result: W, 81-54 vs. Oklahoma 2/6/12
Up Next: at Oklahoma State on 2/15/12
Head Coach: Kim Mulkey, 12th Season
K-State Record: 322-79 (.803)
Career Record: Same
AGGIES ON THE TUBE
• Saturday, Texas A&M will appear on the tube before a national television audience for the eighth time this season. Play-by-play announcer Ron Thulin and color analyst Brenda VanLengen will call the action live on FSN with the game being carried nationally on Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Houston (Texas), Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports North (Plus), Fox Sports Ohio (Non Cavs and Non Jackets), Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Wisconsin, SportsSouth (Non Bobcats), The Comcast Network (Philadelphia), MSG Plus, and Root Sports (Northwest Region and Pittsburgh Region).
• The Aggies are 5-2 on national TV this season.
• The Aggies appear on television a school-record 12 times during the 2011-12 regular season.
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 Ferrell Center alongside color analyst Steve Miller on KZNE 1150 AM. A live audio feed will also be available on RadioAggieland.com.
QUICK HITS
• The Aggies limited Iowa State (33) and Kansas State (36) to their lowest point totals of the season and are the only team in the Big 12 to have held any opponent, let alone two, under 40 points in conference play this year.
• Texas A&M sits in second place in the Big 12, trailing only first-place and undefeated Baylor. A win would keep A&M in sole possession of second, while a loss could put the Aggies back in a two-way tie for second with Oklahoma.
• The Aggies lead the Big 12 by forcing their opponents into an average of 21.5 turnovers per game, with a turnover margin of +5.7, and by averaging 17.2 offensive rebounds per game. The team also averages 10.4 steals, which is second-best in the Big 12.
• The Aggies have the 17th-best turnover margin in the nation at 5.7, the 22nd-best rebounding margin (+7.0) and the 27th-best assist-to-turnover ratio (0.99) in the nation.
• In conference play, Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year Kelsey Bone is second-best in the conference with a 55.3 field goal percentage. Bone (3.2) and senior Adaora Elonu’s (3.0) offensive rebounds per game are third- and fourth-best in the league.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
• Baylor University is located in Waco, Texas, has an enrollment of 15,029 and was founded in 1845.
• The Lady Bears return four starters and 12 letterwinners from their 2010-11 squad that finished with an overall record of 34-3 and a 15-1 (1st) mark in the Big 12.
• BU made its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance last season before falling 58-46 to the Aggies in the Elite Eight.
• Baylor is the only undefeated team in women’s college basketball and leads the Big 12 in 13 statistical categories including 8.5 blocked shots per game, which is tops in the nation.
• The Lady Bears are led by 6-foot-8 All-American Brittney Griner with 23.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game. Also averaging double figures are sophomore guard Odyssey Sims (15.2 ppg, 5.0 apg) and junior forward Destiny Williams (10.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg).
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M
No. Name 2011-12 Stats
10 Alexia Standish, G, 5-8, Fr. 4.0 ppg, 2.1 apg
04 Sydney Carter, G, 5-6, Sr. 11.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg
20 Tyra White, G, 6-0, Sr. 13.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg
21 Adaora Elonu, F, 6-1, Sr. 11.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg
03 Kelsey Bone, C, 6-4, Jr. 12.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg
BAYLOR
No. Name 2011-12 Stats
0 Odyssey Sims, G, 5-8, So. 15.2 ppg, 5.0 apg
01 Kimetria Hayden, G, 6-0, Jr. 8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg
03 Jordan Madden, G, 6-0, Jr. 5.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg
10 Destiny Williams, F, 6-1, RS Jr. 10.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg
41 Brittney Griner, P, 6-8, Jr. 23.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
2011-12 Category TAMU BU
Overall Record 17-5 24-0
Conference Record 8-3 11-0
Points Per Game 69.8 80.7
Scoring Margin +11.7 +29.9
Rebounds Per Game 40.3 47.8
Rebounding Margin +7.0 +14.6
Field Goal Percentage 43.0 48.7
Field Goal% Defense 39.9 30.3
3-Point FG% 28.1 32.5
Free Throw Percentage 65.7 71.2
Turnovers Per Game 15.8 14.1
Assists Per Game 15.6 19.5
Blocks Per Game 4.8 8.3
Steals Per Game 10.4 9.0
INSIDE THE SERIES
• Baylor holds a 47-36 advantage in the all-time series with Texas A&M, but the Aggies broke a streak of eight straight Baylor wins last season with a victory over the Lady Bears in the NCAA Regional Final.
• A&M’s win against BU in the Elite Eight was its first in four tries last season, and was the first time since 1975 that A&M faced Baylor more than three times in a season. The win that sent A&M to the Women’s Final Four prompted fans to hold signs that read “Fourth Time’s the Charm”. That win was A&M’s first against Baylor since March of 2008.
• The Aggies are 13-25 when playing Baylor in Waco. Their last win there was on Feb. 25, 2007 (63-58).
• Despite dropping eight of the last nine contests in the series, every one of those losses has been close and was decided by nine points or less. Surprisingly, the Aggies’ last two wins have been by double figures.
• Blair is 10-16 lifetime versus Baylor in his 27 years as a Division I head coach. Blair was previously an assistant coach to former 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).
LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 58-46 (+12) on March 29, 2011 in Dallas
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 REWIND
• Sydney Carter and Texas A&M finally beat Baylor—when it mattered most. The Aggies are going to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history after a 58-46 victory over the top-seeded Lady Bears on Tuesday night in the Dallas Regional final. Baylor and All-American Brittney Griner, who played in the Final Four last year in the 6-foot-8 center’s freshman season, will have to settle for the Big 12 regular season and tournament trophies the still-young Bears (34-3) already won this season. Texas A&M (31-5) had lost eight straight games against its Big 12 rival, including the previous three this season. The Aggies blew a nine-point lead midway through the second half in Waco last month. They squandered a 12-0 start in the Big 12 championship game just more than three weeks ago. This time, coach Gary Blair’s team lead from start-to-finish after Carter had a 3-pointer, an assist and a jumper in the game’s first 2 minutes for a 7-0 lead. Carter finished with 22 points. Sydney Colson added 12 points for Texas A&M, including some important scores after two free throws by Griner had gotten Baylor within 48-41 with 4 1/2 minutes left. Colson blew by Griner and missed, but was fouled and made both free throws. Right after that, Colson had a steal and took it all the way for a layup and was fouled again. With the A&M bench going wild, and the stunned Baylor players sitting and staring ahead, Colson finished the three-point play to make it 53-41. Griner, coming off a 40-point game Sunday against Wisconsin-Green Bay after scoring 30 the game before that, had 20 points and nine rebounds. But she struggled all night shooting, making only 6 of 18 from the field, including a missed dunk attempt. After making all 10 free throw attempts Sunday, she was 8 of 15 against the Aggies. Melissa Jones, the only senior who played significant minutes for Baylor, scored 13 points and had seven rebounds. Tyra White had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies. Adaora Elonu had eight points and 10 rebounds.
TEXAS A&M AGAINST THE TOP TEAMS
The Aggies have only faced the No. 1 team in the country four times in program history, two of which were against Baylor last season, and are still searching for their first upset of a top-ranked team.
Texas A&M versus No. 1
L, 58-67 at Baylor on Feb. 14, 2011
L, 60-63 vs. Baylor on Jan. 30, 2011
L, 55-66 at Texas on Feb. 11, 2004
L, 81-105 vs. Tennessee on Dec. 19, 1997
AGGIE TOP 5 HITS
Texas A&M is 8-24 all-time against top 5 teams, and is 5-10 against the same competition when the Aggies are ranked.
SENIOR SCORING AND BALANCE = WINS
• Texas A&M has one of the most balanced-scoring teams in the Big 12 with four players averaging double figures. Three of those players are seniors Carter, Elonu and White. When this trio of leaders scores double digits, A&M has lost just a single game at 9-1.
• What’s more is four Aggies have scored double figures on nine occasions this season and A&M is an undefeated 9-0 in those games.
STANDISH STARTING FRESH
• Alexia Standish is only the fifth true freshman to start at point guard in Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair’s nine seasons in Aggieland and she has the second-most starts of that impressive group.
Name Starts Year
Adrienne Pratcher 1 2009-10
Sydney Carter 1 2008-09
Sydney Colson 2 2007-08
Alexia Standish 10 2011-12
A’Quonesia Franklin 28 2004-05
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
• With 1,366 career points, White is in eighth place on A&M’s career points list. She is just 20 points away from passing All-American Danielle Adams (1,386 career points) and moving into seventh place.
• Carter is seven steals away (183) from moving into the top 10 all-time at A&M.
• With two rebounds against K-State, Elonu moved into seventh place on the career rebounds list with 653 boards.
• Carter and Elonu recently became the 24th and 25th players to pass over 1,000 career points– Carter against Kansas on Jan. 21 and Elonu against Oklahoma State on Jan. 24.
• With six rebounds against Missouri on Jan. 18, White became the 24th A&M player to join the 500-rebound club and now has 530 career boards.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
• Four of A&M’s five losses have come by just 9 points or less.
• All but two of the Aggies’ wins have come by 10 points or more.
• In the two wins decided by less than 10 points, Sydney Carter provided the game-winning heroics versus USC (3-pointer) and Iowa State (pair of free throws).
• In all but one of A&M’s losses (at Kansas State), the team has shot less than 40 percent.
• In all but two of A&M’s wins (McNeese State and at Iowa State), the team has shot 40 percent or better.
• The Aggies have trailed at the half six times this season, three of which ended in a loss and three of which A&M won.
• In all but one of A&M’s wins (at Kansas), the team has outscored its opponent in the second half.
• In all but one of A&M’s losses (at Oklahoma State), the team has been outscored in the second half.
• Here is a comparison of key statistics in A&M’s wins vs. losses:
Team Stat Wins Losses
Points per game 73.0 59.0
Opp points per game 54.9 69.0
Scoring margin +18.1 -10.0
FG Percentage 45.3 35.4
Opp FG Percentage 37.6 47.4
Free-Throw Percentage 67.3 60.0
Turnovers per game 14.8 19.2
Turnover Margin +7.4 +0.2
Steals per game 11.0 8.2
• Four of the Aggies’ five losses have occurred on the road. Here is a comparison of key statistics in A&M’s home vs. away games:
Team Stat Home Away
Points per game 74.0 64.1
Scoring margin +16.5 +5.3
FG Percentage 45.9 39.7
Opp FG Percentage 38.3 41.6
Assists per game 17.5 13.1
RPI RATING
• In the most recent release of the NCAA RPI on Feb. 6, Texas A&M was ranked seventh. The Aggies have the fourth-best strength of schedule in the nation. Baylor holds the top spot in RPI followed by Connecticut, Notre Dame, Stanford and Tennessee. Delaware is sixth, while Duke, Kentucky and Rutgers are 8, 9, 10.
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 12th-best in the country in attendance. A&M has been in the top 25 in national attendance for the past four seasons.
• After nine home games this season, the Aggies are averaging 6,143 fans per game, fifth-best in the Big 12 and against 13th-best in the country.
AGGIES IN THE POLLS
• A&M has been ranked in the AP Poll for 78 consecutive weeks and 55 all-time in the top 10
• A&M has been ranked in the Coaches Poll for 114 consecutive weeks and 60 all-time in the top 10.
KANSAS STATE RECAP
TEXAS A&M 67, KANSAS STATE 36
TEAM NOTES
• For the 10th time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Alexia Standish, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Bone…The Aggies are 8-2 with this starting lineup.
• Texas A&M moves to 8-13 in the all-time series with Kansas State.
• The Aggies’ 20-point half-time lead was its largest in conference play this season.
• The Aggies’ 56.7 field goal percentage in the first half was its best of the season.
• A&M’s 52.7 shooting percentage was its best in conference play and its second-best this season.
• A&M held K-State to a first-half season low five field goals and a 26.3 shooting percentage – the Aggies’ lowest for an opponent in Big 12 play this season.
• The Aggies also held the Wildcats to a season-low 22.7 field goal percentage and 23 turnovers – K-State’s most in Big 12 play this season.
• Thirty-one points is the largest margin of victory against K-State all-time.
• Texas A&M held a 29-7 advantage in points off turnovers, a 16-3 lead in second chance points and a 20-9 edge in bench points.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• White has now started in 80 straight games, a streak that started on Jan. 4, 2010 against Lamar.
• White earned her second career double-double tonight (13 pts, 10 reb).
• With two rebounds against K-State, Elonu moved into seventh place on the career rebounds list with 653 boards.
• Skylar Collins dished out a career-best five assists.
• Karla Gilbert matched her first-half career-best with 8 points and finished with a season-best 14 on 7 of 9 from the field. She also added eight rebounds.
• White has now scored in double figures 27 of her last 30 games, Gilbert scored double figures for the third time this season and Bone for the 16th.
