2008–09 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team

2008-09 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball
Conference	Big 12 Conference South
Ranking
Coaches	#7[1]
AP	#10
2008-09 record	27–8 (11–5 Big 12)
Head coach	Gary Blair
Assistant coach	Vic Schaefer
Assistant coach	Kelly Bond
Assistant coach	Johnnie Harris
Home arena	Reed Arena

2008–09 Big 12 women's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
#3 Oklahoma	15	–	1		.938			28	–	4		.875
#7 Baylor†	12	–	4		.750			27	–	5		.844
#10 Texas A&M	11	–	5		.688			25	–	7		.781
#18 Iowa State	11	–	5		.688			24	–	8		.750
#22 Kansas State	10	–	6		.625			24	–	7		.774
#23 Texas	8	–	8		.500			21	–	11		.656
Kansas	6	–	10		.375			18	–	13		.581
Texas Tech	6	–	10		.375			16	–	15		.516
Nebraska	6	–	10		.375			15	–	15		.500
Oklahoma State	4	–	12		.250			16	–	15		.516
Missouri	4	–	12		.250			13	–	17		.433
Colorado	3	–	13		.188			11	–	18		.379
† 2009 Big 12 Tournament winner As of March 14, 2009; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008–09 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team represented Texas A&M University in NCAA Division I women's college basketball.

Preseason outlook

The team placed 10th and 11th in the preseason Coaches Poll and AP Poll, respectively.^[2] The Big 12 coaches picked the squad to finish 5th in the conference, behind first-place favorite Oklahoma, followed by Texas, Iowa State, and Baylor.^[3] Athlon Sports ranked the Aggies 4th in their preseason poll, while Lindy's poll placed them 11th.^[4] A Sports Illustrated writer also ranked the team 11th in her power rankings.^[5]

Recruiting

During the early signing period in November 2008, the Aggies signed^[6] Diamond Ashmore,^[7] Adrienne Pratcher,^[8] Kristi Bellock,^[9] and Cierra Windham.^[10] As of 20 November 2008, ESPN Hoopgurlz ranks the recruiting class 7th nationally.^[11]

Players

Preseason honors

The Big 12 coaches selected Tanisha Smith as the Preseason Newcomer of the Year, and Tyra White as the Preseason co-Freshman of the Year. Takia Starks also made the preseason all-Big 12 team, and Danielle Gant received honorable mention.^[12]

Sporting News included Starks in its preseason All-American first-team. Starks became the first player in school history to be named a preseason first-team All-American.^[13] She also made the 25-member Wade Trophy preseason watch list.^[14] In addition, she is also one of the 30 John R. Wooden Award candidates.^[15]

In October 2008, Gant received the Academic Momentum Award, presented by The Scholar-Baller Program, a partner of National Consortium for Academics and Sports. The award is given to student-athletes who have "demonstrated significant academic improvement throughout their collegiate careers".^[16]

The scoreboard after the New Mexico game

Season accolades

Tyra White received the Big 12 Freshman of the Week honor for the week of 14–16 November.^[17] Adaora Elonu received the same honor for the week of 17–23 November,^[18] and Sydney Carter got the co-honor for the week of 24–30 November.^[19] Elonu picked up her second honor for the week of 1 December–7,^[20] and got another co-honor for the week of 15–21 December.^[21] Takia Starks received her first honor for the week of 22 December – 4 January.^[22] Danielle Gant got her first for the week of 5–11 January.^[23] After posting 11 points in a career-high 31 minutes of play against Oklahoma, and a game-high and career-high of 17 points at Kansas State, Sydney Carter grabbed the weekly honor for the week of 23 February – 1 March.^[24]

Upon defeating New Mexico 83–51, the Aggies set a school record for the largest margin of victory in a home game over a ranked opponent. The previous record was 19, which was compiled in the 2007–08 home matchup against Baylor.^[25]

Two players—Damitria Buchanan and Katrina Limbaha—made the 2008–09 Academic All-Big 12 women's basketball team. Both made the first team as they had a GPA greater than 3.20.^[26]

Starks became the all-time leading scorer of A&M after posting 19 points in the first round of the NCAA tournament.^[27]

Schedule

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
11/07/08* 7:00 p.m.	#10	Houston Jaguars	W 86–43	0–0[28]	Reed Arena (2,787) College Station, TX
Regular season
11/14/08* 7:00 p.m.	#10	Mercer	W 73–45	1–0[29]	Reed Arena (3,387) College Station, TX
11/16/08* 4:00 p.m.	#10	vs. #23 Pittsburgh State Farm Women's Tip-Off Classic	W 56–50	2–0[30]	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7,954) Baton Rouge, LA
11/20/08* 6:00 p.m.	#7	at Michigan	W 59–56	3–0[31]	Crisler Arena (1,125) Ann Arbor, MI
11/25/08* 8:00 p.m.	#5	at Arizona	W 54–44	4–0[32]	McKale Center (1,604) Tucson, Arizona
11/28/08* 3:00 p.m.	#5	vs. Penn State Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament	W 61–57	5–0[33]	Firestone Fieldhouse (320) Malibu, CA
11/29/08* 3/5:30 p.m.	#5	vs. Pepperdine Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament	W 70–60	6–0[34]	Firestone Fieldhouse (779) Malibu, CA
12/02/08* 7:30 p.m.	#4	at Stephen F. Austin	W 77–36	7–0[35]	William R. Johnson Coliseum (5,492) Nacogdoches, TX
12/07/08* 1:00 p.m.	#4	SMU	W 80–48	8–0[36]	Reed Arena (3,563) College Station, TX
12/13/08* 7:30 p.m.	#3	Texas State	W 94–45	9–0[37]	Reed Arena (3,602) College Station, TX
12/21/08* 1:00 p.m., ESPNU	#3	TCU	W 64–50	10–0[38]	Reed Arena (5,395) College Station, TX
12/30/08* 7:00 p.m.	#3	#25 New Mexico	W 83–51	11–0[39]	Reed Arena (5,543) College Station, TX
01/03/09* 5:00 p.m.	#3	George Washington	W 78–59	12–0[40]	Reed Arena (6,892) College Station, TX
01/05/09* 6:00 p.m.	#3	at Florida State	L 53–60	12–1[41]	Donald L. Tucker Center (2,373) Tallahassee, FL
01/10/09 5:00 p.m., Mizzou SN	#6	at Missouri	W 62–56	13–1[42] (1–0)	Mizzou Arena (1,763) Columbia, MO
01/13/09 7:00 p.m.	#6	Texas Tech	W 67–56	14–1[43] (2–0)	Reed Arena (3,860) College Station, TX
01/18/09 3:00 p.m., FSN	#6	at #3 Oklahoma	L 59–71	14–2[44] (2–1)	Lloyd Noble Center (9,531) Norman, OK
01/21/09 7:00 p.m.	#7	#4 Baylor Battle of the Brazos	L 61–64	14–3[45] (2–2)	Reed Arena (5,234) College Station, TX
01/24/09 6:00 p.m.	#7	at #25 Oklahoma State	W 60–50	15–3[46] (3–2)	Gallagher-Iba Arena (4,568) Stillwater, OK
01/28/09 7:00 p.m.	#7	at #17 Texas Lone Star Showdown	W 68–54	16–3[47] (4–2)	Frank Erwin Center (5,998) Austin, TX
01/31/09 4:00 p.m.	#7	Kansas	W 73–60	17–3[48] (5–2)	Reed Arena (7,143) College Station, TX
02/04/09 7:00 p.m.	#4	at #23 Iowa State	L 50–67	17–4[49] (5–3)	Hilton Coliseum (10,278) Ames, IA
02/08/09 2:00 p.m.	#4	Nebraska	W 86–43	18–4[50] (6–3)	Reed Arena (4,468) College Station, TX
02/11/09 7:00 p.m.	#8	at Texas Tech	L 53–60	18–5[51] (6–4)	United Spirit Arena (8,587) Lubbock, TX
02/14/09 2:00 p.m.	#8	Colorado	W 79–50	19–5[52] (7–4)	Reed Arena (4,469) College Station, TX
02/21/09 11:00 a.m., FSN	#11	#13 Texas Lone Star Showdown	W 76–65	20–5[53] (8–4)	Reed Arena (5,840) College Station, TX
02/23/09 6:30 p.m., ESPN2	#11	#2 Oklahoma	W 57–56	21–5[54] (9–4)	Reed Arena (7,035) College Station, TX
03/01/09 2:00 p.m., FSN	#9	at #15 Kansas State	W 71–45	22–5[55] (10–4)	Bramlage Coliseum (6,089) Manhattan, KS
03/05/09 7:00 p.m., FSN	#8	Oklahoma State	W 79–49	23–5[56] (11–4)	Reed Arena (7,075) College Station, TX
03/07/09 7:30 p.m.	#8	at #6 Baylor Battle of the Brazos	L 60–64	23–6[57] (11–5)	Ferrell Center (10,118) Waco, TX
Big 12 Tournament
03/13/09 1:30 p.m., FSN	#9	vs. #16 Kansas State Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament	W 65–63	24–6[58]	Cox Convention Center Oklahoma City, OK
03/14/09 12:00 p.m., FSN	#9	vs. #3 Oklahoma Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament	W 74–62	25–6[59]	Cox Convention Center Oklahoma City, OK
03/15/09 12:30 p.m., FSN	#9	vs. #7 Baylor Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament	L 72–63	25–7[60]	Cox Convention Center Oklahoma City, OK
NCAA Tournament
03/22/09 11:00 a.m., ESPN2	#9	vs. Evansville 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament	W 80–45	26–7[27]	Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN
03/24/09 6:00 p.m., ESPN2	#9	vs. Minnesota 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament	W 73–42	27–7[61]	Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN
03/29/09 1:30 p.m., ESPN2	#9	vs. Arizona State 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament	L 84–69	27–8[62]	Sovereign Bank Arena Trenton, NJ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from Coaches Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

References

1. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/rankings
2. "2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Rankings (Nov. 10)". Retrieved 21 November 2008.
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4. "Women's Basketball No. 4 In Preseason Athlon's Top 25". Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
5. "UConn tops the '08-'09 preseason power rankings". CNN. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
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7. "Ashmore pledges to Blair, A&M women's basketball program". Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
8. "PG Pratcher picks Texas A&M". Retrieved 21 November 2008.
9. "Bellock to Texas A&M". Retrieved 21 November 2008.
10. "Windham to Texas A&M". Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
11. "2009 recruiting class rankings". Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
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13. "Starks Named Preseason First Team All-America By The Sporting News". Retrieved 21 November 2008.
14. "The 2009 State Farm Wade Watch". Retrieved 21 November 2008.
15. "2008-09 John R. Wooden Award: Preseason Top 30 List - Women's Category". Retrieved 21 November 2008.
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18. "Paris and Elonu Chosen Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Players of the Week" (Press release). Retrieved 25 November 2008.
19. "Montgomery, Hand and Carter Chosen Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Players of the Week". Retrieved 2 December 2008.
20. "McCray and Elonu Chosen Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Players of the Week". Retrieved 9 December 2008.
21. "Riley, Anderson and Elonu Chosen Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Players of the Week". Retrieved 22 December 2008.
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34. "Waves Battle #8 Texas A&M in Loss". Retrieved 30 November 2008.
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36. "SMU vs Texas A&M (12/07/08 at Reed Arena - College Station, Texas)". Retrieved 7 December 2008.
37. "Texas State vs Texas A&M (12/13/08 at Reed Arena - College Station, Texas)". Retrieved 15 December 2008.
38. "Starks scores 21 as Texas A&M beats TCU 64-50". Retrieved 21 December 2008.
39. "Starks and Gant Combine For 51 Points In Blowout Of No. 25 New Mexico". Retrieved 31 December 2008.
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51. "Texas A&M vs Texas Tech (2/11/09 at United Spirit Arena - Lubbock, Texas)". Retrieved 15 February 2009.
52. "Texas A&M 79, Colorado 50". Retrieved 15 February 2009.
53. "Turnovers sink Texas women against Aggies, 76-65". Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
54. "OU Women's Basketball: Aggies edge Sooners on last-second shot". Retrieved 24 February 2009.
55. "Kansas State 45 (21-6, 8-6 Big 12), Texas A&M 71 (22-5, 10-4 Big 12)". Retrieved 1 March 2009.
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External links

• Official website