A&M women's basketball team to face improving Kansas Jayhawks

  • By ROBERT CESSNA

  • Posted: Saturday, January 21, 2012 7:00 a.m.
  • Text size: A A A


Opponents of the Texas A&M women's basketball team have been using the defending national champs as a measuring stick, which certainly will be the case Saturday night when the 14th-ranked Aggies play at Kansas.


The Jayhawks (15-2, 4-1) are off to their best start since the 1993-94 season. They are a game ahead of the Aggies (12-4, 3-2) in the Big 12 standings, yet KU is unranked. The Jayhawks have played a tougher schedule this season than in the past and are ranked 27th in the last NCAA ratings percentage index (RPI).


But KU hasn't had a lot of success in recent years with its last NCAA tournament appearance coming in 2000.


"It's a great opportunity," Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson said of hosting A&M. "We're excited."


Kansas already has one big victory, winning at Texas to open league play, and beating A&M would be another significant step. The Jayhawks have lost eight straight to the Aggies, and the last two were blowouts. Last season, A&M rolled to an 81-58 victory at Reed Arena as the Jayhawks had a season-high 31 turnovers and leading scorer Carolyn Davis got in early foul trouble.


This season, KU has cut down on its turnovers, averaging 17.4 per game while junior point guard Angel Goodrich leads the Big 12 in assists (7.8 per game) and steals (3.6). And Davis has cut down on her fouls, averaging less than three per game and not fouling out once this season.


The 6-foot-3 Davis also has extra incentive against the Aggies. The junior is from Fort Bend Bush and attended A&M summer camps.


Blair said Davis "is another camper who wants to light us up."


A&M is coming off a 78-52 victory over Missouri in which the Aggies held posts Christine Flores and BreAnna Brock to a combined 25 points, which was 10 below their average. Brock, who is from San Antonio and also attended Blair's camps, was only 4-of-13 shooting.


Davis and 6-2 Aishah Sutherland will be a much stiffer test for A&M's interior defense. They are coming off dominating performances in a 65-60 victory at Oklahoma State.


Sutherland had 22 rebounds, the most for a KU player in 30 years. She added 15 points and played the whole game. Davis was 8-of-13 shooting for 18 points in 36 minutes.


"I think Caroline Davis may be the second-best post player in the conference behind [Baylor's] Brittany Griner," OSU head coach Jim Littell said. "You just can't allow her to get that deep in the lane, then Sutherland with 15 points and 22 rebounds. Wow. They've got two experienced posts that are a handful and we didn't do a real good job of blocking them out."


Thanks to KU's powerful inside game the Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in field-goal shooting percentage at 48.9. That's a tough matchup for A&M, which is last in field-goal percentage defense (40.3). Davis is shooting 62.6 percent from the field to lead the Big 12.


A&M's defense has been hot and cold in league play. Kansas State and Texas combined to shoot 50.4 percent from the field -- 59 of 117 -- and averaged only 17 turnovers as each beat A&M. But in A&M's victories against Oklahoma, Iowa State and Missouri, the Aggies held them to 38.4 percent from the field (53 of 138) and forced 22 turnovers per game.


"We definitely have confidence and we have to take that confidence into road games," A&M senior guard Sydney Carter said after back-to-back home victories. "We lost our first game at K-State, but we can't harp on that and we definitely have to respect Kansas. We need to stick to our fundamentals. We need to be the aggressor. We have to come in there with that punch first attitude and take it to them."


*


NOTES -- Former A&M guard A'Quonesia Franklin, who was one of the stars on Blair's first Aggie team to make the NCAA Tournament, is in her first season as a KU assistant.


A&M WOMEN'S BASKETBALL


No. 14 A&M (12-4, 3-2) at Kansas (15-2, 4-1)


7 p.m. Saturday, Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kan.


TV: None. Radio: 1150 AM, KZNE


TEXAS A&M (12-4, 3-2)


Pos. Name Height Class PPG RPG


G Alexia Standish 5-8 Fr. 2.6 *2.0


G Sydney Carter 5-6 Sr. 12.4 3.3


G Tyra White 6-0 Sr. 14.5 5.6


F Adaora Elonu 6-1 Sr. 11.8 7.1


C Kelsey Bone 6-4 Jr. 11.8 7.3


KANSAS (15-2, 4-1)


Pos. Name Height Class PPG RPG


G Angel Goodrich 5-4 Jr. 11.8 *7.8


G Monica Engelman 5-11 Jr. 10.1 3.3


F Aishah Sutherland 6-2 Sr. 13.6 9.5


G Natalie Knight 5-7 Fr. 5.4 2.9


F Carolyn Davis 6-3 Jr. 18.1 6.1


*assists per game

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