A&M women's basketball team to host Kansas

It's the halfway point of the Big 12 women's basketball season, and defending national champion Texas A&M stands at 6-3 and in a three-way tie for second with Kansas State and Oklahoma.

While catching top-ranked and undefeated Baylor seems a bit of a pipe dream for No. 18 A&M, gaining the No. 2 seed for the Big 12 tournament is not. If the Aggies (15-5) can do that, they would avoid the Lady Bears until the tournament championship game.

But when A&M hosts Kansas at 7 p.m. Saturday, defending national titles and improving tournament seedings won't be foremost on Gary Blair's mind. The Aggie head coach wants to see improvement on the court -- and in very specific areas.

"I dislike our lack of transition game and lack of creativity sometimes on offense at the point guard position," Blair said. "We've got to get a few more easy baskets."

Last season, A&M made a living turning opposing turnovers into fast-break points. Not so this season as transition baskets have been hard to come by for the Aggies over their first 20 games.

So the onus is on point guards, freshman Alexia Standish and junior Adrienne Pratcher, to get A&M's offense moving.

Standish has helped protect the basketball of late, averaging just a turnover a game over a recent four-game stretch. And overall, Blair says the Aggie point guards haven't been a major concern. But he wants to see more out of them, especially the 5-foot-7 Pratcher, who backed up honorable mention All-American Sydney Colson last season.

"We are looking for Pratcher to move it to the next level," Blair said. "We are not getting hurt at the point guard, so we give [Standish] minutes knowing it might be better to bring experience off the bench. Right now it's working because we have four kids scoring in double figures."

Along with transition offense, Blair singles out 6-4 Kesley Bone as a key to the remainder of A&M's season.

"Bone at times looks like the second best player [in the 2009 recruiting class]," said Blair, referring to Bone's ranking as a recruit by ESPN HoopGurlz. "Other times she takes plays off. We are looking for more consistency, effort, shot selection and definitely defense."

Bone leads A&M in rebounding at 7.1 boards a game and is third in scoring at 11.8 points.

When Bone is not playing up to the hype, Blair has turned to backup posts Karla Gilbert and Kelsey Assarian to get his starter's attention.

"More things happen with Bone in there, but Gilbert is playing well right now," Blair said.

The bench has been a strength at times for A&M and is one of the deepest in the Big 12. And Blair says having Pratcher, Gilbert, Assarian and Skylar Collins as regulars in his rotation should help the Aggies in the second half of conference play.

"That's pretty good depth there," Blair said of his four main reserves, who are averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds a game. Pratcher also leads A&M in assists at 3.9 a game.

While Blair likes his bench, he also hopes his three senior starters keep up their production -- and for good reason.

Seniors Sydney Carter, Adaora Elonu and Tyra White have been A&M's clear leaders throughout, each averaging at least 29.6 minutes per game.

White leads A&M at 14.3 points per game, while Carter has served as the team's floor leader and the backbone of the defense, leading A&M with 2.1 steals per game.

And Elonu is now matching Carter's and White's All-Big 12 level of play.

After averaging 8.4 points a game as A&M's fourth-leading scorer last season, Elonu is second on the team this season at 12.5 a game. She also is second on the team in rebounding at 6.9 per game, and she played a big role in A&M's 67-55 victory over Texas Tech in Lubbock on Wednesday, finishing with 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and four blocks in 24 minutes.

Elonu's recent improvement is timely, for A&M's second-half schedule includes four pivotal games -- two against Baylor, a home game against KSU and a trip to OU. A split with BU would likely help A&M's NCAA tournament seeding, while KSU and OU stand as roadblocks to the Big 12's No. 2 seed.

While Blair's focus is mainly on Saturday night's game, he's also been known to take a peek or two at his upcoming schedule.

"We have two home games in which we don't need to mess around, find a way to be 17-5 going to Baylor," Blair said. "But look at [our] last three games: Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas. Texas and Texas Tech might be playing to get into the [NCAA] tournament, and Baylor is playing for a No. 1 seed. They are playing for a No. 1 seed and the rest of us can't get close to a No. 2."

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NOTES -- It's reunion weekend for the Aggies, who will introduce nearly 50 former players at halftime of Saturday's game. ... Kansas boasts the Big 12 leader in assists in Angel Goodrich (7.1), No. 2 scorer in Carolyn Davis (19.0), and No. 3 rebounder in Aishah Sutherland (9.4). ... At the halfway mark, the home team in Big 12 play has won just 23 of 45 games. ... A&M fans can buy a "family pack" Saturday and again for A&M's game against Texas Tech on Feb. 25. For $36, fans can get four general admission tickets, four Aggie dogs and four small drinks with each additional family member costing $9.

Who: Kansas (16-5, 5-4) at No. 14 Texas A&M (15-5, 6-3)

When: 7 p.m., Saturday

Where: Reed Arena.

TV/Radio: None/KZNE-AM 1150

Kansas (16-5, 5-4)

Name Ht. Class PPG RPG

G Natalie Knight 5-7 fr. 5.0 *2.0

G Monica Engelman 5-11 jr. 9.8 3.5

G Angel Goodrich 5-4 jr. 12.5 *7.7

F Carolyn Davis 6-3 jr. 18.1 5.9

F Aishah Sutherland 6-2 sr. 12.7 9.2

Texas A&M (15-5, 6-3)

G Sydney Carter 5.6 sr. 11.8 *3.1

G Alexia Standish 5-8 fr. 3.6 *2.0

F Tyra White 6-0 sr. 14.3 5.7

F Adaora Elonu 6-1 sr. 12.5 6.9

F Kelsey Bone 6-4 jr. 11.8 7.1

*assists