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
Seasons
« 2007-08 2009-10 »
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.

Contents

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 November 20, 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]

Season accolades

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

References

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External links