The Lady Raiders play the #14/11 Texas A&M Aggies in College Station on Saturday, Feb 25, 2012 at 7pm CST at the Reed Arena. This will be the 73rd meeting between these two teams. In the all-time series, Tech holds the lead 54-18 and has won three of the last five matchups. The Aggies won the last game in Lubbock, 67-55, on Feb. 1, 2012.
Tech enters the game after losing to Kansas on Tuesday, Feb 21, 2012 in Lubbock. Tech played Kansas tight and the game went back and forth but Tech came up short and lost 69-64.
The ATM Aggies are coming off a loss of their own to Oklahoma. The Sooners shocked the Aggies in Norman on Tuesday Feb 21st. OU beat the Aggies 64-55.
Game will be televised on Fox Sports (FSN)
NOTE: Tech announced on Friday that Kierra Mallard, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, was suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules and will not make the trip to College Station.
What's at Stake: Tech will be looking to end a 3-game slump. They have played tight games but have come up short the last two weeks against Texas, Baylor and Kansas. Tech is trying to be one of the top 6 six teams in the Big 12 to get a first-round bye in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Championship. Currently they are tied for 7th with Oklahoma State and Texas in the Big 12 standings. Secondly, every victory is needed if Tech is to get into the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies are trying to go into the Big 12 tourney seated #2 and they are currently tied with Oklahoma after suffering a loss to the Sooners earlier in the week. ATM has beaten Tech in College Station the last 6 meetings and they want to hold on to that record. It will be Senior Night for the ATM players and they will be eager to bounce back from their tough road loss to OU and the Aggies want to extend their five-game home winning streak,
Comments: As I mentioned in my Post-Game notes, I can't figure this Lady Raiders team out, last Saturday night they went head-to-head with Baylor, the #1 team in the country. They came so very, very close to winning that game. IMO, that team from Saturday night should be the #2 team in the Big 12 and beat all of the other teams but time and time again they struggle and lose games. They have improved on their FT% and in most cases have out rebounded their opponents, but then they make poor attempts on baskets and come up short at the end-of-the-game. In there up and down record, I am hoping for a very Big Up and a Win for the Lady Raiders over the Aggies. I want them to show that they are a team to be reckoned with and that even though they will not have their high scorer Kierra Mallard playing with them, that they can fill the gaps and play cohesively and focused and pull out the win. If they play like they did against Baylor, the Aggies will not know what hit them.
More after the Jump ...
Current record: Tech's current season record is 17-9, 5-9 Big 12. ATM's current season record is 19-7, 10-5 Big12.
Rankings: The Lady Raiders are currently not ranked. The Aggies are currently # 14 in the AP poll and #11 in the Coach's Poll.
Players to watch:
Tech: Junior Guard Casey Morris averages 9.2 points per game and 3.7 rebounds/game and has 52 steals and has a 87 FT%; Junior Christine Hyde is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds/game and has 27 steals; Junior Guard Monique Smalls is averaging 8.2 points and 3.5 rebounds and has 70 steals; Sophomore Kelsi Baker averages 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds/game and has 9 blocks and 17 steals; Sophomore Forward Shauntal Nobles is averaging 6.5 pts and 5.1 rebounds/game and has 20 blocks and 20 steals; Junior Guard Chynna Brown is averaging 8.8 pts and 4.1 rebounds/game and has 21 steals; Senior Forward Jordan Barncastle averages 5.2 pts/game and completes 79.3% FTs and has 12 steals and 6 blocks.
ATM: Freshman Guard Alexia Standish is averaging 3.6pts/game and is an excellent 3-pt shooter and has 16 steals; Senior Guard Sydney Carter averages 11.6 pts and 3 rebounds/game is over 80% at the FT line and has 10 blocks and 51 steals; Senior Guard Tyra White averages 14.4 pts and 5.8 rebounds/game and has 18 blocks and 29 steals; Senior Forward Adaora Elonu averages 12.3 pts and 6.5 rebounds/game is over 70% from the FT line and has 28 blocks and 46 steals; Junior Center Kelsey Bone is averaging 11.8 pts and 6.8 rebounds/game and has 16 blocks and 31 steals.
Previously Play: The Lady Red Raiders played the Kansas Jayhawks in Lubbock on Tues., Feb 21, 2012. It was a close game but down the stretch the Lady Raiders ran out of steam and lost 69-64. Chynna Brown matched her season high of 21 points in the game. The Texas A&M Aggies are coming off a loss to Oklahoma in Norman on Tues., Feb 21, 2012. A&M was down 30-33 at the half. The Sooners came out of the locker room and used a 13-4 run to extend their lead to 46-34 with 15:51 remaining. The Aggies held Oklahoma without a field goal for the following 8 minutes and went on a 9-1 run to make it a 3-point game, 47-44, with just over 8 minutes to play. The Aggies, however, would get no closer. Texas A&M shot just 28.6 percent (18 of 63) from the floor. For the game, there were 10 lead changes and seven ties, most of which occurred early in the contest. Final Score: 64-55
Coaches: Kristy Curry is coaching her 6th season at Tech. (105-83). Gary Blair is entering his 9th season with the Texas A&M Aggies (206-86).
Last Year: The Lady Red Raiders finished the 2010-11 season 22-11, 8-8 with a tie for 6th place in the Big12. Tech returns 11 players (4 Starters) from last year's team and welcomed 2 newcomers. The ATM Aggies won the National Championship last year. ATM finished the 2010-11 season 33-5, 13-3 and finished in 2nd place in the Big12. The Aggies returned 10 Letterwinners (3 Starters) and have 3 newcomers.
TV: Fox Sports (FSN)
Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network (97.3 FM Lubbock) and Texas A&M Sports Network (KZNE 1150 AM)
Gametracker: www.texastech.com/gametracker
Streaming video/audio: Only Audio on www.texastech.com/allaccess/ (~ $10/month charge)
Game Thread will go up at 6:45pm CST on Saturday , Feb 25, 2012
Other Notes and Quotes:
Texas Tech leads the Big 12 Conference and is No. 39 nationally with 10.8 steals per game this season.
Monique Smalls is 8th in the country in Assist Turnover Ratio.
Texas Tech is second in the Big 12 Conference in scoring margin (10.2) and 42nd overall in the country. The Lady Raiders are also fourth in conference in scoring with 68.1 points per game.
The Lady Raiders are second the Big 12 Conference in offensive rebounds with 17.5 per game and are third in the conference in rebounding offense (43.9%) and fifth in rebounding defense (35.4%). They are also second in the conference in rebounding margin (+6.3) which is also 29th-best among all NCAA Div. 1 teams.
Big 12 teams will hit the midway point of the 18-game conference schedule with midweek games.
The Big 12 is listed first in the Sagarin and Collegiate Basketball News' Women's RPI ratings.
Nine Big 12 teams are over .500 and seven have 16 or more wins.
The Big 12 has nine teams in the top 65 of the NCAA RPI.
The Big 12 is the only conference with every team ranked in the top 50 for strength of schedule with nine in the top 36.
The Big 12 is the only league with four members that have won national championships (Texas/1986, Texas Tech/1993, Baylor/2005 and Texas A&M/2011).
Since 2002, the Big 12 is one of two leagues with four different institutions making appearances in the Women's Final Four.
The Big 12 has seven national semifinal appearances since 2002 and has placed at least one team in the semifinals three consecutive seasons.
Thirty-four of 70 games in conference play have been decided by single digits, including 20 by five-or-less points.
Texas Tech Head Coach Kristy Curry
On why she used 10 different players in the first half
"I think energy is the best point there we were trying to get something established defensively and wasn't pleased defensively, it just looked like we didn't do a good job on the defensive end, so we tried to go to the bench a little bit and try and get a spark here and there and we've had that happen from our bench throughout the year but we just weren't able to establish anything defensively."
On what changed at the 12 minute mark in the second half, defensively for Tech
"We were just able to get some stops and they missed some shots, whether it was good defense or they just missed a look we were able to get a rebound better and run out of it and get some easy transition baskets, get to the foul line more the second half, again we weren't able to sustain that and that's what is disappointing about it, so you have to credit Kansas."
On Kansas getting open looks at the three
"It just looked like we weren't rotating very well from help to back into denial. A lot of it had to do with Angel Goodrich's play, I thought she totally controlled the basketball game and anytime you can have eight assists and two turnovers, she did a great job on her penetration shots and when we did help on penetration she found the opened person, so much of the game was controlled by her and it was an absolutely outstanding effort in every regard from her end tonight."
On what went wrong offensively for Tech
"I thought we missed a lot of easy looks, and you just have to be able to finish some shots and we weren't able to finish shots, I thought Chynna Brown really did a good job of being aggressive and getting some looks and making some baskets and shooting at a high percentage, but beyond that we really didn't do the best job, three for eight, three for 10 that makes it hard to win."
On the message to the team after the game
"Disappointed, our backs are against the wall and we have to fight, fight, fight and continue to come out everyday and work as hard as we can."
Junior Guard Chynna Brown
On if she shoots the ball more when her teammates aren't making shots
"Sometimes, I still encourage them and if they're open and calling for the ball I still try and get the ball to them in some way and I just keep talking to them and tell them you knock the next one down just to forget about that shot."
On how this loss feels
"Everybody hates to lose, so losing at home just a bad feeling, hate it, just looking forward to the next the next few games and getting back to working on what we need to work on."
On what looks Kansas was giving her
"I was just able to come off the screens hard and if I'm open I shot the ball and didn't think about it too much and just trying to be aggressive and getting to the goal anytime I could, I was just trying to drive the ball."
TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDERS
| TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDERS (17-10, 5-10) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | NO. | HT | P | YR | STATS |
| Monique Smalls | 23 | 5-6 | G | JR | 8.3 pts/game |
| Casey Morris | 15 | 5-9 | G | JR | 9.1 pts/game |
| Chynna Brown | 00 | 5-8 | G | JR | 9.2 pts/game |
| Jordan Barncastle | 1 | 6-2 | F | SR | 5.3 pts/game |
| Shauntal Nobles | 33 | 6-3 | F | SO | 6.0 pts/game |
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
| Texas A&M Aggies (197-7, 10-5) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | NO. | HT | P | YR | STATS |
| Alexia Standish | 10 | 5-8 | G | FR | 3.6 pts/game |
| Sydney Carter | 4 | 5-6 | G | SR | 11.6 pts/game |
| Tyra White | 20 | 6-0 | G | SR | 14.4 pts/game |
| Adaora Elonu | 21 | 6-1 | F | SR | 12.3 pts/game |
| Kelsey Bone | 3 | 6-4 | C | JR | 11.8 pts/game |
Four Factors to Winning
| The Four Factors to Winning | ||
|---|---|---|
| A&M | Texas Tech | |
| Shooting eFG% | 0.375 | 0.343 |
| Ball Handling TO% | 0.372 | 0.389 |
| Off rebounding OR% | 0.432 | 0.401 |
| Shooting FTs FT Rate | 0.661 | 0.668 |
TEAM STATISTICS
| Team Stats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoring Offense | W-L | Pts | Avg/G |
| Texas Tech | 17-10, 5-10 | 1835 | 68 |
| A&M | 19-7, 10-5 | 1758 | 67.6 |
| Scoring Defense | W-L | Pts | Avg/G |
| Texas Tech | 17-10, 5-10 | 1559 | 57.7 |
| A&M | 19-7, 10-5 | 1514 | 58.2 |
| Scoring Margin | Off | Def | Margin |
| Texas Tech | 68 | 57.7 | +10.2 |
| A&M | 67.6 | 58.2 | +9.4 |
| Free Throw % | FT Made | FT Attempts | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 398 | 596 | 0.668 |
| A&M | 333 | 502 | 0.663 |
| Field Goal % | FG | FG A | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 649 | 1659 | 0.391 |
| A&M | 676 | 1633 | 0.414 |
| Field Goal % Defense | FG | FGA | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 562 | 1493 | 0.376 |
| A&M | 548 | 1365 | 0.401 |
| 3-Point FG % | FG | FGA | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 139 | 434 | 0.32 |
| A&M | 73 | 263 | 0.278 |
| 3-Point FG % Defense | FG | FGA | Pct. |
| Texas Tech | 112 | 406 | 0.276 |
| A&M | 130 | 355 | 0.366 |
| Rebounding Offense | Reb | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 1138 | 42.1 | |
| A&M | 1034 | 39.8 | |
| Rebounding Defense | Reb | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 969 | 35.9 | |
| A&M | 895 | 34.4 | |
| Blocked Shots | Blocks | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 113 | 4.19 | |
| A&M | 117 | 4.5 | |
| Assists | No. | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 353 | 13.07 | |
| A&M | 261 | 10.04 | |
| Steals | No. | Avg/G | |
| Texas Tech | 291 | 10.78 | |
| A&M | 261 | 10.04 |