By ROBERT CESSNATexas A&M women's basketball coach Gary Blair is intent on ending a season at the Final Four, but for now he'll settle for a championship-type game to open the season.
The Aggies will play host to the sixth-ranked Duke Blue Devils at 2 p.m. Sunday at Reed Arena. It's the highest-ranked opponent to come to A&M in nonconference play since 10th-ranked Vanderbilt visited in 1997.
"When you play a Duke, Connecticut, Tennessee, or Stanford, sometimes you have to play them when you can get them," Blair said. "This is the only date that they had open on their schedule. And we had to take that date if we wanted to get that caliber of team in here and try to build our attendance base and everything like that."
A&M, unranked by the Associated Press but No. 16 in the coaches' poll, wants to show it can graduate all-conference players and still compete with the nation's elite.
Blair, entering his seventh year at A&M, has made five straight NCAA tournament appearances, but this will be his least experienced team since that run started.
He lost three of his top six players -- A'Quonesia Franklin, Morenike Atunrase and Patrice Reado -- after the school's only Elite Eight finish in 2007-08. A&M lost three more starters -- Danielle Gant, La Toya Micheaux and Takia Starks -- after last season's Sweet 16 appearance.
"Right now, we're nowhere where we should be, particularly on execution," Blair said.
A&M has only three seniors on the 16-player roster, and the one with the most playing experience -- guard/forward Tanisha Smith -- joined the team last season as a junior college transfer.
A&M dipped into the JC ranks again this offseason for 6-foot-1 forward/post Danielle Adams, who was the WBCA National Junior College Player of the Year. Her experience and talent -- she was voted the preseason Big 12 newcomer of the year -- is expected to help A&M offset the loss of post Kelsey Bone, Texas' second-rated prospect who was heavily recruited by A&M but signed with South Carolina.
Adams came off the bench for 16 points and 10 rebounds in an 84-52 exhibition victory over Oklahoma City University on Thursday.
The incoming freshmen from a highly touted class -- Kristi Bellock, Cierra Windham, Diamond Ashmore and Adrienne Pratcher -- combined for only three points.
"We're expecting a lot out of them," said junior point guard Sydney Colson. "Danielle, we're expecting her to get out there and play a lot of minutes and be a big factor in our game.
"But there's always that transition period for freshmen. Coach Blair doesn't have the easiest offense to learn and Coach [Vic] Schaefer's defense clearly isn't easy to adjust yourself too."
Blair is counting on players who have been used as reserves to possibly become go-to players.
A&M will start 6-foot-2 forward Damitria Buchanan, who has only seven career starts, and redshirt sophomore guard Tyra White has made only one start.
"Losing three big players last year, [the veterans] just have to step up," Colson said. "We're going to have to be more than just role players. A lot of our people didn't get that much playing time [in the past]. They are going to have to be the big factors. They are the returners, they know how to play. We have to be the ones to set an example and lead the new people."
Duke has successfully plugged in new players -- and even a new coach -- and kept winning. The Blue Devils have made 11 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, seven Elite Eight appearances and four Final Four appearances since 1992, many of them under current Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors, who was at Duke from 1992-2007.
This is the 10th straight year the Blue Devils had been in the preseason Top 10, and Duke has been in the Top 25 for 186 straight weeks, the country's third-longest current streak.
A&M and Duke met in the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA Oklahoma City Regional where the second-seeded Aggies beat third-seeded Duke 77-63 en route to the school's lone trip to the Elite Eight.
*
NOTES -- Duke opened the season with a 105-34 thumping of Houston Baptist on Friday. Senior Bridgette Mitchell, a 6-foot forward, scored a game-high 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Joy Cheek, a 6-1 senior forward, added 16 points, and 6-4 junior Krystal Thomas had 14 points and 12 rebounds in her first collegiate start. Duke forced 33 turnovers and had a 62-25 rebounding edge. ... Blair said the game won't be very offensive because both teams are athletic and play solid defense. Duke had 23 turnovers against Houston Baptist and hit only 1 of 12 3-pointers. ... Blair and the players were wearing 'Beat Duke' buttons this week. "Beat" was in maroon and "Duke" was in blue. "Any promotion is good," said Blair, who has been working 24/7 for weeks to get a good crowd to Sunday's game. ... Vanderbilt beat A&M in that 1997 matchup, 78-59.
TEXAS A&M WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
* Sunday's game: No. 6 Duke (1-0) at Texas A&M (0-0), 2 p.m.
* Radio: KZNE, 1150 AM
* Tickets: $11 (courtside), $9 (mezzanine), $7 (gallery) and $5 (general admission)
DUKE-TEXAS A&M LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M (0-0)
NAMEPOS.HT.CL.PPGRPG
Sydney ColsonG5-8Jr. 6.5*3.0
Tanisha SmithF6-0Sr.10.63.6
Tyra WhiteG6-0So.5.22.4
Adaora ElonuF6-1So.4.93.3
Damitria Buchanan F6-2Sr.1.72.3
DUKE (1-0)
NAMEPOS.HT.CL.PPGRPG
Jasmine ThomasG5-9Jr.10.2*3.3
Karima ChristmasG5-11Jr.7.54.2
Krystal ThomasC 6-4Jr.4.34.0
Bridgette MitchellFSr.6-04.53.6
Joy CheekF6-1Sr.8.54.7
*assists per game (statistics from last season)
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