#15/15 Texas (15-7, 3-5) at No. 21/20 Texas A&M (16-6, 4-4)
State Farm Lone Star Showdown
Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 · 11 a.m. Central
Reed Arena (capacity 12,500), College Station, Texas
GAME COVERAGE
TV: FSN (Brian Anderson, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, color analyst)
RADIO: KVET 1300 AM (Central Texas): Chad Hastings, play-by-play; Chris Plonsky, color analyst; Texas A&M Radio Network (KZNE 1150 AM, College Station)
GAME DAY INFORMATION
In the National Rankings:Texas is in the "also receiving votes" in both the Associated Press Top 25 (media poll) and USA Today/ESPN (coaches poll) Top 25 ... Texas A&M is No. 21 (AP) and No. 20 (USA Today/ESPN) d
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State '85): 16th year overall: 517 games: 411-106 (.795); first year at Texas: 15-7 (.682)
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair (Texas Tech '74 ): 23rd year overall as collegiate head coach: 716 games: 497-219 (.694); 5th year at Texas A&M: 145 games: 89-56 (.614)
SERIES INFO
All-Time Series Record: 72nd meeting -- Texas leads the series, 58-13
Texas' Home/Away/Neutral Record vs. TAMU: 28-3 at home; 23-7 away; 7-3 at neutral site
Series Win Streak: +1, Texas A&M
Last Year's games: No. 22/24 Texas 64, No. 17/18 Texas A&M 45 (Jan. 21, 2007 in Austin); No. 14/16 Texas A&M 67, Texas 60 (Feb. 28, 2007, College Station)
Goestenkors All-Time vs. Texas A&M: 0-1 (Texas A&M 83, Duke 73, Nov. 17, 1995)
Today's Teams
Texas stands 15-7 overall and 3-5 in the Big 12 as it plays for the first time since Sunday (Feb. 3) ... UT, in the "also receiving votes" category of both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls this week, looks for its first Big 12 road win of the year today as the Longhorns are 0-3 in away league play to date ... Texas A&M is 15-7 with a three-game win streak (all league games) and is now 4-4 in the conference ... TAMU is ranked 21st (AP) and 20th (USA Today/ESPN) ... Texas is coming off Sunday's 74-58 loss to No. 11/10 Oklahoma in Austin ... Coach Gail Goestenkors' Longhorns were paced by forward Earnesia Williams (14 points), but were hurt by a 30.9 shooting effort, the team's lowest in conference play this season ... Oklahoma shot 55.9 percent for the game, the highest shooting accuracy of the year by a Longhorn opponent.
The Aggies also had a mid-week break and last played on Feb. 2, defeating Texas Tech in Lubbock, 63-46 ... Texas and Texas A&M are meeting for the 72nd time - which is tied (with Baylor) for second-longest series in UT history (Texas Tech being the longest at 77 games) ... Texas leads the series, 58-12...The Longhorns are 8-3 in the last 11 meetings against the Aggies which includes a home-and-home split of regular season league games a year ago... This game is part of the fourth annual rivalry series between Texas and A&M across all sports - the State Farm Lone Star Showdown - a series won by Texas each year... This academic year, TAMU leads the SFLSS, 4.5-2.
Playing `Em Close - Eight Games Decided By 10 or Less Points to Date
This year, Texas has played in eight games which have been decided by 10 points or less - including four of its last seven... Texas is 5-3 in these games -- 3-0 in games decided by 6-10 points (1-0 in Big 12 play), and 2-3 in games decided by five points or less (including a 1-2 mark in Big 12 action) ... UT had a three-point, 86-83 setback to Virginia (Nov. 23); a one-point win over San Diego (81-79, Dec. 30); a five-point loss in overtime (79-74) to Kansas State (Jan. 13); a three-point win over Iowa State (59-56, Jan. 16); a seven-point victory over No. 13 Oklahoma State (Jan. 23); and Wednesday's one-point loss to No. 6 Baylor, 61-60.
Think Pink/Pack the House Night in Austin on Feb. 13
All Texas fans are encouraged to wear pink to support breast cancer awareness and research at the Wednesday (Feb. 13) Texas-Baylor game in Austin as UT holds its "Think Pink"/Pack the House game ... With coordination from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), over 900 women's basketball teams join the fight against breast cancer during the 2008 "Think Pink" week, February 8-17.
Longhorn Stat Leaders
Sophomore guard Brittainey Raven carries a team-best 15.5 ppg average into the Texas A&M game ... She also is second in steals with 43 (1.96 spg), is second in assists (70, 3.2 apg) and is third in rebounding (4.9 rpg)... Raven has been in double-figure scoring a team-high 21 times in 22 games.
Junior post Ashley Lindsey is second in both scoring (11.7 ppg) and in rebounding (7.0 rpg) ... Lindsey also is first in blocks (62, 2.81 bpg), with that 2.81 bpg average ranking No. 11 nationally ... Those 62 blocks are a single-season high for Lindsey... Redshirt sophomore point guard Carla Cortijo (9.5 ppg) is third in scoring and the team's assist leader with 105 (4.78 apg) and the club's steals leader (44, 2.0 spg) ... Cortijo is a candidate for the Lieberman Award (national point guard of year) ... Freshman guard Kat Nash is the team leader in rebounds (7.3 rpg) and is fourth in scoring (9.2 ppg), despite coming off the bench in 15 games and playing less than 27 minutes per contest... Nash is followed by redshirt sophomore Earnesia Williams (8.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and senior guard Erneisha Bailey (7.5 ppg. 4.8 rpg) ... Nash is first in 3-pointers made (27) and is the team's best free throw shooter among the regulars, along with Williams ... Nash has nailed 83.9 percent of her free throws (47-56) ... Williams is hitting at an 83.8 percent clip in foul shooting (31-for-37).
Texas and Big 12 Numbers
Sophomore Brittainey Raven (13.5 ppg) and junior Ashley Lindsey (12.5) are the lone Longhorns averaging double-figure scoring in Big 12 play ...Raven is 16th in Big 12 league scoring and Lindsey 20th ... Lindsey is tied for second in league blocked shots (24, 3.0 bpg), eighth in field goal pct. (.465) and 13th in conference rebounding (7.3).
Carla Cortijo stands tied for third in conference assists average (31, 3.88) and is seventh in assist-turnover ratio (3.9 apg, 3.9 to's, 1.00) and 13th in steals (1.75 spg)... Senior Erneisha Bailey is tied for second in league steals (23, 2.88 spg), while freshman Kat Nash is eight in league rebounding (7.3 rpg) .
As a team, the Longhorns and Aggies are first league steals (each with 81), averaging 10.13 thefts per game.... UT also is No. 3 in turnover margin (+3.25, 16.4 to's/game to opponents' 19.6 to's/game), No. 5 in free throw percentage (.712) and sixth in scoring defense (allowing 61.8 ppg) and in blocked shots (4.38 bpg).. On the flip side, however, Texas ranks in the middle of the pack or below in numerous categories, including: No. 7 in Big 12 scoring margin (-0.4), No. 8 in scoring (61.4 ppg), No. 9 in field goal percentage defense (limiting opposition to 41.6 shooting accuracy) and 12th in FG percentage, hitting 35.6 percent of league field goals.
A Look At A&M
The Aggies are 27-2 in their last 29 games at Reed Arena ... TAMU is paced by 5-8 junior guard Takia Starks (17.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg), 5-11 junior guard/forward Danielle Gant (14.3 ppg, team-high 7.5 rpg) and 6-0 senior forward Patrice Reado (8.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg), while 6-3 junior La Toya Micheaux (3.8 ppg) pulls down 5.8 boards per game ... The assist leader is 5-3 senior A'Quonesia Franklin with 4.7 assists per contest ... In league play, Starks collects 17.8 ppg while Gant follows with 14.0 ppg and a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game.
Texas-Texas A&M Series
Today's game marks the 72nd game in the Texas-Texas A&M series, which, as mentioned, is tied for the second longest series in Texas women's basketball history ... The longest series is the UT-Texas Tech series which is at 77 games... Today's game marks only the fifth time in series history that the two squads will meet with Texas unranked and TAMU ranked (once in 1994, twice in 2005-06, and last February in College Station are the other time).... Texas is 15-4 against TAMU dating back to the 1998-99 campaign... The Longhorns hold a 28-3 all-time record in Austin... In games played at College Station, UT stands 23-7 and is 6-4 in the last 10 games there; at neutral sites, Texas is 7-3 against TAMU.
In all-time games against A&M, the Longhorns stand 58-13... TAMU is 3-1 in the last four meetings ... Texas had its seven-game series win streak broken in 2005-06 when the Aggies won both games (73-53 on Feb. 8 in Austin, and 79-67 (Feb. 22 at College Station) prior to No. 22 Texas upsetting then-No. 17 TAMU on Jan. 21, 2007 in Austin of last year ... Texas was led by senior Tiffany Jackson's game-highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds and 14 points from freshman Brittainey Raven... Texas held the Aggies to a season-low 31 percent shooting effort ... Leading by 10 at the break (28-18), Texas shot a sizzling 74 percent from the floor in the final half to pull away ... That was UT's best shooting half of the year, and UT ended the game shooting 48 percent... ...The Longhorns also out-rebounded the Aggies, 41-30, held a 26-15 edge in points off turnovers and a 32-18 advantage in scoring in the paint.
The Aggies then won in College Station on Feb. 28 in UT's regular season finale, 67-60, as A'Quonesia Franklin (27 points) and Takia Starks combined for 45 points ... The Aggies went 8-22 in 3's... UT was again led by Jackson (19 points, seven rebounds) and Raven (then-career high 19 points)... Both teams turned the ball over 13 times... Texas shot well (45%) and had big advantages in fastbreak points (16-5) and in points in the paint (38-22), but A&M led on the boards (42-32).
Texas, Goestenkors Against the Top 25 All-Time
In Texas history, the Longhorns have met a Top 25-ranked opponent (or Top 20 when the rankings went to 20 teams) 315 times ... UT's record against ranked foes is 147-168 (.467), including a 3-3 mark this year ... In 156 all-time games against Top 25 ranked opponents, UT coach Gail Goestenkors has a 90-67 record, a 57.8 winning percentage, with all but this year's six games on Duke's sidelines.
Stretch of Four Straight Against Nationally-Ranked Foes
Last Wednesday's trip up 1-35 to face No. 6 Baylor began a four-game stretch against Top 25 opponents for the Longhorns ... It continued with Sunday's game vs. No. 11/10 Oklahoma, and after facing No. 21/20 Texas A&M today, Texas faces Baylor again, hosting No. 6/6 BU on Wed., Feb. 13 on "Think Pink/Pack the House" night in Austin (8 p.m. game on ESPNU).
Goestenkors, Blair Meet For Fourth Time
New UT head coach Gail Goestenkors (0-1 against Texas A&M with a Nov. 1995 loss, 83-73) will face Aggie head coach Gary Blair for the fourth time today - and the first with Blair as TAMU head coach ... Goestenkors has won twice, with the three prior head-to-head meetings took place when Goestenkors was at Duke and Blair at Arkansas, and all three meetings were in a tournament ... In the 1998 NCAA West regional finals, Arkansas defeated Duke, 77-72; in 2001, Duke defeated Arkansas in NCAA second round action (75-54) in Durham; Duke then won at the Virgin Islands' Paradise Jam tourney in 2002, 74-72 in OT.
In the NCAA Statistics (Texas & Texas A&M)
Currently, Texas stands 19th in blocked shots per game (5.0 bpg), led by junior Ashley Lindsey's single-season high of 62 ... Lindsey stands 11th among all Division I players in blocked shots average (2.8 bpg)... UT also is 22nd among all NCAA Division I teams in scoring margin (+13.8), as UT scores 73.4 ppg and holds the opponent to 59.5 ppg ... Texas also 30th in both field goal percentage defense (limiting opposition to 36.4 percent shooting) and in scoring....The Aggies' top national ranks are 21st in scoring defense (allowing 55.7 ppg) and 40th in blocks (4.5 bpg).
It's So Raven - No Sophomore Slump Here
UT sophomore guard Brittainey Raven (15.5 ppg) is enjoying a breakout sophomore campaign ... The 6-0 combo guard has been in double-figure scoring in 21 of the 22 games to date - doubling her freshman year scoring totals when she hit 10-plus points 10 times in 32 games for 18-14 Texas ... Her double-figure scoring streak was snapped at Baylor (she had seven points), yet Raven is averaging nearly 10 points a game more than she did as a freshman last year when she averaged 7.9 ppg ... Raven has been UT's leading scorer 11 times in 22 games, and is one of only two players to score 20-plus points - she has done it three times.
Look at Lindsey as Most Improved
Most notable this year for Texas are the contributions of 6-0 sophomore combo guard Brittainey Raven and 6-4 junior post Ashley Lindsey ... As mentioned, Raven has upped her scoring numbers (15.5 ppg this year, 7.9 ppg last year), and is chipping in with 70 assists to date (3.1 apg), a big increase from her 51 assists and 1.6 apg a year ago... The improvement for Lindsey has been dramatic, and the case can be made for the junior to be arguably the most improved player in the Big 12... Here is a breakdown of Lindsey's numbers from last year to this year:
Ashley Lindsey: NOW and THEN THROUGH 22 GAMES
2007-08: 11.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 62 blocks (2.81 bpg), 26.8 mpg, 52.2 FG% ... 22 games, 22 starts, 4 double-doubles ... 11th nationally in blocks (2.81 bpg), 2nd in Big 12 league blocks (24, 3.0 bpg), 8th in Big 12 FG pct. (.465), 13th in rebounding (7.3)
2006-07: 3.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 18 blocks (1.0 bpg), 10.0 mpg, .591 FG% ... 18 g, 0 starts, no double-doubles ... Big 12 league stats: 2.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.8 bpg, 10 mpg
More on Raven and Lindsey and Their Consistency
Leading scorer and co-captain Brittainey Raven (15.5 ppg) has led UT in scoring 12 times, has five or more assists five times and has four or more steals three times... Prior to the Oklahoma game, Raven had shot 47 percent (13 of 28) in the prior three games, but was just 3-12 against the Sooners ... In the last four games, however, she has 14 assists and 19 rebounds ... Junior post Ashley Lindsey (11.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg) had a career-high seven blocks against Nebraska on Jan. 9 (prior high was six) ... She has a single-season high of 64 blocks to date ... Lindsey also pulled down 10 or more rebounds in five of the last 11 games and has all four of her double-doubles in this span ... Lindsey has led UT in rebounding 11 times in the 22 games... Her last two double-doubles were a 15-point, 11-rebound effort against Kansas State (Jan. 13) and 20 points/10 boards against No. 6 Baylor (Jan. 30).
Nash Among Big 12's Rookie Bests
UT freshman guard Kat Nash is emerging as one of the Big 12's top rookie players ... The 6-2 Nash has been primarily used as UT's sixth man, coming off the bench 15 times while starting seven contests ... She is fourth in Texas overall scoring (9.2 ppg) and leds the club in rebounding, pulling down 7.3 rpg... She also leads the Longhorns in free throw percentage (.839), 3-pointers made (27) and attempted (71) and is second in 3-point percentage (.380). At the Big 12 level, Nash is making her mark as well...Among all Big 12 fresh man players in conference stats, Nash has put up some of the best numbers of all conference rookies ... She is: · FIRST among all freshmen in conference rebounding (7.8 pg) ... SIXTH in scoring (8.1 ppg) ... SIXTH in free throw pct. (.905, 19-21) ... SEVENTH in assists (10, 1.11 apg) and ... SEVENTH in 3-point percentage (10-26, .385)
More Texas Trends
· UT will look to snap it's league away-game losing streak, which sits at seven games (three games this season, the last four games of last year)... The last time the Longhorns won in Big 12 play on the road was a year ago - on Feb. 3, 2007
- when UT defeated Kansas State, 61-34, in Manhattan, Kansas...
· With a team-high 14 points against No. 11/10 Oklahoma, forward Earnesia Williams returned to double-figure scoring for the first time in the last eight games she had played in (missed the Jan. 20th Texas Tech game with knee swelling).. Those were the most points produced by Williams since she had 14 against San Diego (Dec. 30)
· Rookie Kat Nash pulled down a career-high 13 boards against Oklahoma, surpassing her former best of 10, reached three times this year ...
· Junior post Ashley Lindsey is logged five straight games with 10 or more points - the longest such string iin her career - and averaged 14.4 ppg in this stretch ...
· Gotta Get to the Line -- when Texas take more free throws than the opponent, the Longhorns are 9-3 to date (2-2 in the league).. however, it is important for UT to MAKE more FT's than the opposition, as in these games, Texas stands 8-1 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play...the only exception was the Oklahoma game, where UT went 11-16 from the line and OU went 5-7.
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