Texas A&M (19-7, 7-5 in Big 12) vs. (Texas (16-10, 4-8 in Big 12)
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 · 2 p.m. Central
Frank Erwin Center (capacity 16,755) · Austin, Texas
GAME COVERAGE
TV: ESPN2 (Pam Ward, play-by-play; Nancy Lieberman, color)
RADIO: KVET 1300 AM (Central Texas): Craig Way, play-by-play; Chad Hastings, color analyst; Texas A&M Radio Network (KZNE 1150 AM, College Station)
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 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Poll
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State '85): 16th year overall: 521 games: 412-109 (.787); first year at Texas: 16-9 (.615)
TAMU Head Coach Gary Blair (Texas Tech '74): 23rd year overall as collegiate head coach: 720 games: 500-220 (.694); 5th year at Texas A&M: 149 games: 92-57 (.617)
SERIES INFO
All-Time Series Record: 73rd meeting -- Texas leads the series, 58-14
Texas' Home/Away/Neutral Record vs. A&M: 28-3 at home; 23-8 away; 7-3 at neutral site
Series Win Streak: +2, Texas A&M
Earlier This Year: #21/20 Texas A&M 66, #15/15 Texas 57 (Feb. 9, 2008 in College Station)
Texas Head Coach Goestenkors vs. Texas A&M: 0-2 (0-1 at Texas, 0-1 at Duke)
Featured Player of the Game:
GAME PROMOTION
FREE Longhorns Kid Court EVERY home game! Pregame activity center for youth 18 and under is located in the adjacent Cooley Pavilion practice facility (follow signs from Erwin Center pavilions) ... Inflatables, basketball hoops of all kinds and sizes for the youngest to oldest child, face painting and contests ... Open 12:30 p.m. to 15-minutes prior to 2 p.m. tipoff.
TEXAS STUDENTS GAME PROMOTIONS
Be a part of the O-Zone and be eligible for: Hyde Park Bar & Grill gift cards, Schlotzsky's Cheer for Dough, Dinner for two at Matt's El Rancho
Tickets: Purchase online at TexasBoxOffice.com; by calling 800-982-BEVO or 512-471-3333; in person at any Texas Box Office outlet, including Austin-area H-E-B stores and the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Central); and in person one hour prior to game time at the Frank Erwin Center box office. Group packages are also available at an additional discount. For more information call 512-232-3865.
The Teams
Texas enters today's State Farm Lone Star Showdown contest with a 16-10 overall record and a 4-8 Big 12 mark, while No. 21 Texas A&M is 19-7 and 7-5 in the league... Texas stands 10-2 at home to date ... Both teams last played on Wednesday, with Texas losing a tough 71-66 decision at No. 16 Oklahoma State and the Aggies posting a 60-46 win over Iowa State in College Station ... This is the second time in two weeks that the Longhorns and Aggies will meet ... On Feb. 9, TAMU posted a 66-57 win in College Station ... Texas and Texas A&M are squaring off for the 73rd time... This series is tied for the second longest series in Texas women's basketball history (with Baylor)... UT leads series action, 58-14.
Texas is playing at home for just the third time in the last seven contests .. After this, UT plays on the road twice in its final three regular season games... UT next plays at Kansas (Wed., Feb. 27) and at No. 11/10 Oklahoma (Sun., March 2) before playing its regular season finale at the Erwin Center against Texas Tech on Wednesday, March 5.
Brutal Stretch
The Longhorns are 4-5 against Top 25 opponents so far this season, and are in the midst of a seven-game stretch where six opponents are Top 25 ranked squads ... UT has faced five of the six ranked teams in this span so far, with the Aggies being the sixth .... Texas is 1-4 against the Top 25 in this string.
Playing 'Em Close - 11 Games Decided By 10 or Less Points to Date
This year, Texas has played in 11 games which have been decided by 10 points or less - including seven of its last 11 contests... Texas is 6-5 in these games -- 4-1 in games decided by 6-10 points (2-1 in Big 12 play), and 2-4 in games decided by five points or less (including a 1-3 mark in Big 12 action) ... Of those close games, five were on the road...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 win over No. 13 Oklahoma State (Jan. 23); a one-point loss to No. 6 Baylor, 61-60 (Jan. 30); a nine-point loss at No. 21/20 Texas A&M (Feb. 3); a 10-point victory over No. 8 Baylor (61-51, Feb. 13); and Wednesday's five point, 71-66 setback at No. 16/17 Oklahoma State.
Texas Family Day Today; Williams Honored as State Farm Scholar-Athlete Pre-Game
Today is Texas Basketball's "Family Day", where family members of the Longhorns players will be introduced at halftime on the court .... In addition, in pregame recognition, UT junior forward Earnesia Williams will receive the State Farm Lone Star Showdown Scholar-Athlete of the Game award .... This is the second consecutive year that Williams, a youth and community studies major with an interest in computer technology, will be spotlighted as part of the State Farm LSS rivalry series for her standout academic and athletic skills.... Each contest in the State Farm LSS recognizes a student-athlete of the game.
A Look at the Longhorns
Versatile sophomore guard Brittainey Raven tops the team in scoring (15.2 ppg), is tied for the lead in steals (52), is second in assists (75, 3.0 apg) and third in rebounding (4.7 rpg) ... Junior post Ashley Lindsey (11.8 rpg) is first in rebounding (7.1) and blocked shots (74, 2.85 bpg)... Lindsey ranks No. 9 nationally in blocked shots and is coming off her fifth double-double of the year as she led UT against Oklahoma State with 18 points and 10 rebounds ... Second-year point guard Carla Cortijo (9.6) is third in scoring and tops the team in assists, dishing out 125 for a 4.81 assist average ... Freshman guard Kat Nash (8.7 ppg) follows in scoring and is second in rebounding (6.9 rpg)... Nash leads UT in 3-pointers made (33) and in free throw percentage (.833, 50-60)... Following in the stat columns are forward Earnesia Williams (8.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and senior guard Erneisha Bailey (7.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg).
A Glance at the Aggies
TAMU is 6-1 in its last seven games ... Two players average double-figure scoring - junior guards Takia Starks (17.1 ppg) and Danielle Gant (14.9) - while senior forward Patrice Reado chips in with 8.6 ppg and 4.8 rpg and senior guard/forward Morenike Atunrase adds 8.4 ppg ... Gant leads the squad in rebounding (7.4) and in steals (60) ... Senior point guard A'Quonesia Franklin adds 7.2 points per game ... She is 17th nationally in assist-turnover ratio (+2.10) with 128 assists (a 4.92 apg average) and 61 turnovers.
Texas-Texas A&M Series
Today's game marks the 73rd 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... The Longhorns hold a 28-3 all-time record in Austin... In games played at College Station, UT stands 23-8 and is 6-4 in the last 10 games there; at neutral sites, Texas is 7-3 against TAMU... Today's game marks only thes sixth time in series history that the two squads will meet with Texas unranked and TAMU ranked (once in 1994, twice in 2005-06, last February in College Station and this Feb. 3rd are the other times).
In all-time games against A&M, the Longhorns stand 58-14... TAMU has won the last two meetings, including the Feb. 3rd game in College Station when the No. 21 Aggies used a game-high 25 points from junior guard Danielle Gant to post a 66-57 victory ... Unranked Texas made a huge run midway through the second half, cutting a 19-point deficit (41-22) to four points twice down the stretch... Redshirt sophomore forward Earnesia Williams led the Longhorns with 12 points, and sophomore guard Brittainey Raven and junior post Ashley Lindsey added 10 points apiece... Raven and Lindsey - UT's two top scorers - battled foul trouble all game long, with Raven playing just 29 minutes and Lindsey 26.
Texas cut the lead to 57-53 on a layup by Lindsey with 2:36 to play... The Aggies' leading scorer, Takia Starks, then sank two free throws to put TAMU up by six (59-53) with 2:28 to play... Texas brought it to within four again, 59-55, on two free throws from freshman Kat Nash 43 seconds later.
The Aggies, however, sealed the game by connecting on seven of 10 free throws in the last one and one-half minutes, while Texas made one of its final six attempts from the floor... Aggie point guard A'Quonesia Franklin, who had nine points and 10 assists for the Aggies, made one of two free throws... UT then missed an open layup on the other end and the Aggies added two more free throws to push their lead to seven with less than 30 seconds remaining. Williams made a layup for Texas, but the Longhorns were forced to foul again and Sydney Colson made both free throws to seal the win.
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 ...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.
