By ROBERT CESSNAThe Texas A&M women's basketball team will face Baylor freshman sensation Brittney Griner for the first time at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center in a pivotal Big 12 game for both teams.
The eighth-ranked Aggies (15-2, 3-1) have a two-game lead on the 14th-ranked Lady Bears, who were picked to win the league. It's the first time A&M has gone to Waco in Big 12 play two games ahead of Baylor (14-4, 1-3).
The Aggies are hopeful they'll fare as well against the Big 12's budding superstar as they did against the league's last icon. A&M went 5-4 against Oklahoma's four-time All-American Courtney Paris. The Aggies were the only Big 12 team with a winning record against the 6-foot-4 Paris, prevailing in five of the last seven meetings.
"I think we all learned a lesson when Courtney Paris came into the league," A&M head coach Gary Blair said. "All we did was talk about Courtney Paris the whole summer."
Blair said the league's coaches didn't do enough preparing before OU ran roughshod through the Big 12 during Paris' freshman season, going 16-0. Even though Paris improved after that, the league did a much better job of defending her, and what the conference's coaches learned about stopping Paris should help them prepare for Griner, who is fourth in the league in scoring (18.6 points) and rebounding (8.9) per game.
"We've gone through four years preparing for a Kodak All-American," Blair said.
The Aggies were successful against Paris -- the only player in NCAA history to have 2,500 points and 2,000 rebounds --primarily because of overall defensive pressure and 6-foot-3 La Toya Micheaux.
A&M still relies on defensive pressure, but Micheaux has graduated. Instead of focusing chiefly on preventing their opponents from scoring inside, the Aggies also are attacking the basket on offense.
The Aggies lead the league in scoring at 80.9 points per game with more than 40 percent coming inside the paint. A&M still scores in transition, but the Aggies have their most potent inside scorer since joining the Big 12 in Danielle Adams. The 6-foot-1 post is averaging 15.9 points per game. The only time the junior college transfer didn't score in double figures came against North Texas, when she suffered a head injury after playing 2 minutes.
Adams is coming off 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks -- all season-high efforts -- in a 69-54 victory over Texas Tech. She was 11-of-17 shooting with all but two of the field goals from close range as A&M scored almost half its points in the paint. Adams doesn't mind shooting midrange jumpers and is 12 of 40 from 3-point range.
"She's going to have to hit those [outside shots] against Baylor, because we might not be able to get all those inside shots," Blair said.
The 6-8 Griner averages 5.9 blocks per game. She's blocked eight more than A&M has as a team.
But Blair says that focusing too much on Griner could cost the Aggies.
"We're playing Baylor. We're not playing Brittney Griner," Blair said. "Griner's going to get hers. We've got to make sure the other four or six or seven do not go off, and the other teams have done a pretty good job of stopping Baylor's young players."
Missouri, the only nonranked team to beat Baylor, aggressively took the ball at Griner, who played only 24 minutes because of foul trouble. She scored 14 points with six rebounds, two blocks and had six turnovers.
"You have to mix it up," Blair said. "Of all the games Baylor has played, we've seen about 12 different game plans. We'll pick one that will fit our personnel."
Blair is hopeful A&M's 6-2 senior post Damitria Buchanan can be an offensive threat, keeping Griner from roaming on defense. That would be a huge departure from the past since Buchanan is averaging only 3.1 points per game and hasn't scored in the last three games, attempting only one shot.
*
NOTES -- A&M needs a victory to stay a game back of sixth-ranked Nebraska (17-0, 4-0). .. Baylor, which has lost back-to-back games, has sorely missed junior guard Melissa Jones (leg injury) who has missed the last four games and could miss several more weeks. "That's how valuable she is," Blair said. ... Baylor is starting two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior with Jones out. The Lady Bears, who are averaging 19.1 turnovers per game, have never lost three straight regular season games in Big 12 play since head coach Kim Mulkey's first season in 2000-01. "When it will happen, what will turn it around -- making some more perimeter shots for one will help," Mulkey said. "Getting Melissa Jones back would help. It's not going to happen immediately." ... Blair said starting point guard Sydney Colson would really help the offense by playing at least 30 minutes, which will allow backup Sydney Carter to play more on the wing.
TEXAS A&M WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
* Wednesday's game: No. 8 Texas A&M (15-2, 3-1 in Big 12) at No. 14 Baylor (14-4, 1-3), 7 p.m.
* TV/radio: None/KZNE, 1150 AM
LINEUPS
Texas A&M (15-2, 3-1)
NamePos.Ht.ClassPPGRPG
Sydney ColsonG5-8Jr.7.8*5.0
Tanisha SmithF6-0Sr.16.5 4.6
Tyra WhiteG6-0So.10.63.5
Danielle AdamsC6-1Jr.15.9 5.5
Damitria Buchanan F6-2Sr.3.14.5
Baylor (14-4, 1-3)
NamePos.Ht.ClassPPGRPG
Kelli GriffinG5-8Jr.7.6*4.5
Shanay WashingtonG6-1Fr.7.63.1
Terran CondreyG5-7So.3.32.4
Ashley FieldF6-2So.7.84.0
Brittney Griner C6-8Fr.18.68.9
*assists per game
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