Battle of Backbone Mountain

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2008–09 Big 12 Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Oklahoma 15 1   .938 32 5   .865
No. 5 Baylor 12 4   .750 29 6   .829
No. 17 Iowa State 11 5   .688 27 9   .750
No. 9 Texas A&M 11 5   .688 27 8   .771
No. 21 Kansas State 10 6   .625 25 8   .758
No. 25 Texas 8 8   .500 21 12   .636
Texas Tech 6 10   .375 16 15   .516
Kansas 6 10   .375 22 14   .611
Nebraska 6 10   .375 15 16   .484
Oklahoma State 4 12   .250 17 16   .515
Missouri 4 12   .250 13 17   .433
Colorado 3 13   .188 11 18   .379
2009 Big 12 Tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll [2]


The 2008–09 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team represented Texas A&M University in NCAA Division I women's college basketball.

Preseason outlook

The team placed 10th and 11th in the preseason Coaches Poll and AP Poll, respectively.[3] 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.[4] Athlon Sports ranked the Aggies 4th in their preseason poll, while Lindy's poll placed them 11th.[5] A Sports Illustrated writer also ranked the team 11th in her power rankings.[6]

Recruiting

During the early signing period in November 2008, the Aggies signed[7] Diamond Ashmore,[8] Adrienne Pratcher,[9] Kristi Bellock,[10] and Cierra Windham.[11] As of 20 November 2008, ESPN Hoopgurlz ranks the recruiting class 7th nationally.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14] She also made the 25-member Wade Trophy preseason watch list[15] and was one of the 30 John R. Wooden Award candidates.[16]

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".[17]

The scoreboard after the New Mexico game

Season accolades

Tyra White received the Big 12 Freshman of the Week honor for the week of 14–16 November.[18] Adaora Elonu received the same honor for the week of 17–23 November,[19] and Sydney Carter got the co-honor for the week of 24–30 November.[20] Elonu picked up her second honor for the week of 1 December–7,[21] and got another co-honor for the week of 15–21 December.[22] Takia Starks received her first honor for the week of 22 December – 4 January.[23] Danielle Gant got her first for the week of 5–11 January.[24] 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 23 February – 1 March.[25]

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.[26]

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.[27]

Starks became the all-time leading scorer of A&M after posting 19 points in the first round of the NCAA tournament.[28]

Schedule

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/07/08*
7:00 p.m.
No. 10 Houston Jaguars W 86–43  0–0[29]
Reed Arena (2,787)
College Station, TX
Regular season
11/14/08*
7:00 p.m.
No. 10 Mercer W 73–45  1–0[30]
Reed Arena (3,387)
College Station, TX
11/16/08*
4:00 p.m.
No. 10 vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh
State Farm Women's Tip-Off Classic
W 56–50  2–0[31]
Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7,954)
Baton Rouge, LA
11/20/08*
6:00 p.m.
No. 7 at Michigan W 59–56  3–0[32]
Crisler Arena (1,125)
Ann Arbor, MI
11/25/08*
8:00 p.m.
No. 5 at Arizona W 54–44  4–0[33]
McKale Center (1,604)
Tucson, Arizona
11/28/08*
3:00 p.m.
No. 5 vs. Penn State
Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament
W 61–57  5–0[34]
Firestone Fieldhouse (320)
Malibu, CA
11/29/08*
3/5:30 p.m.
No. 5 vs. Pepperdine
Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament
W 70–60  6–0[35]
Firestone Fieldhouse (779)
Malibu, CA
12/02/08*
7:30 p.m.
No. 4 at Stephen F. Austin W 77–36  7–0[36]
William R. Johnson Coliseum (5,492)
Nacogdoches, TX
12/07/08*
1:00 p.m.
No. 4 SMU W 80–48  8–0[37]
Reed Arena (3,563)
College Station, TX
12/13/08*
7:30 p.m.
No. 3 Texas State W 94–45  9–0[38]
Reed Arena (3,602)
College Station, TX
12/21/08*
1:00 p.m., ESPNU
No. 3 TCU W 64–50  10–0[39]
Reed Arena (5,395)
College Station, TX
12/30/08*
7:00 p.m.
No. 3 No. 25 New Mexico W 83–51  11–0[40]
Reed Arena (5,543)
College Station, TX
01/03/09*
5:00 p.m.
No. 3 George Washington W 78–59  12–0[41]
Reed Arena (6,892)
College Station, TX
01/05/09*
6:00 p.m.
No. 3 at Florida State L 53–60  12–1[42]
Donald L. Tucker Center (2,373)
Tallahassee, FL
01/10/09
5:00 p.m., Mizzou SN
No. 6 at Missouri W 62–56  13–1[43]
(1–0)
Mizzou Arena (1,763)
Columbia, MO
01/13/09
7:00 p.m.
No. 6 Texas Tech W 67–56  14–1[44]
(2–0)
Reed Arena (3,860)
College Station, TX
01/18/09
3:00 p.m., FSN
No. 6 at No. 3 Oklahoma L 59–71  14–2[45]
(2–1)
Lloyd Noble Center (9,531)
Norman, OK
01/21/09
7:00 p.m.
No. 7 No. 4 Baylor
Battle of the Brazos
L 61–64  14–3[46]
(2–2)
Reed Arena (5,234)
College Station, TX
01/24/09
6:00 p.m.
No. 7 at No. 25 Oklahoma State W 60–50  15–3[47]
(3–2)
Gallagher-Iba Arena (4,568)
Stillwater, OK
01/28/09
7:00 p.m.
No. 7 at No. 17 Texas
Lone Star Showdown
W 68–54  16–3[48]
(4–2)
Frank Erwin Center (5,998)
Austin, TX
01/31/09
4:00 p.m.
No. 7 Kansas W 73–60  17–3[49]
(5–2)
Reed Arena (7,143)
College Station, TX
02/04/09
7:00 p.m.
No. 4 at No. 23 Iowa State L 50–67  17–4[50]
(5–3)
Hilton Coliseum (10,278)
Ames, IA
02/08/09
2:00 p.m.
No. 4 Nebraska W 86–43  18–4[51]
(6–3)
Reed Arena (4,468)
College Station, TX
02/11/09
7:00 p.m.
No. 8 at Texas Tech L 53–60  18–5[52]
(6–4)
United Spirit Arena (8,587)
Lubbock, TX
02/14/09
2:00 p.m.
No. 8 Colorado W 79–50  19–5[53]
(7–4)
Reed Arena (4,469)
College Station, TX
02/21/09
11:00 a.m., FSN
No. 11 No. 13 Texas
Lone Star Showdown
W 76–65  20–5[54]
(8–4)
Reed Arena (5,840)
College Station, TX
02/23/09
6:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 11 No. 2 Oklahoma W 57–56  21–5[55]
(9–4)
Reed Arena (7,035)
College Station, TX
03/01/09
2:00 p.m., FSN
No. 9 at No. 15 Kansas State W 71–45  22–5[56]
(10–4)
Bramlage Coliseum (6,089)
Manhattan, KS
03/05/09
7:00 p.m., FSN
No. 8 Oklahoma State W 79–49  23–5[57]
(11–4)
Reed Arena (7,075)
College Station, TX
03/07/09
7:30 p.m.
No. 8 at No. 6 Baylor
Battle of the Brazos
L 60–64  23–6[58]
(11–5)
Ferrell Center (10,118)
Waco, TX
Big 12 Tournament
03/13/09
1:30 p.m., FSN
No. 9 vs. No. 16 Kansas State
Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference tournament
W 65–63  24–6[59]
Cox Convention Center 
Oklahoma City, OK
03/14/09
12:00 p.m., FSN
No. 9 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma
Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference tournament
W 74–62  25–6[60]
Cox Convention Center 
Oklahoma City, OK
03/15/09
12:30 p.m., FSN
No. 9 vs. No. 7 Baylor
Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference tournament
W 72–63  25–7[61]
Cox Convention Center 
Oklahoma City, OK
NCAA Tournament
03/22/09
11:00 a.m., ESPN2
No. 9 vs. Evansville
2009 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
W 80–45  26–7[28]
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
03/24/09
6:00 p.m., ESPN2
No. 9 vs. Minnesota
2009 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
W 73–42  27–7[62]
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
03/29/09
1:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 9 vs. Arizona State
2009 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
W 84–69  27–8[63]
Sovereign Bank Arena 
Trenton, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from Coaches Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Standard Time.

References

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  6. ^ "UConn tops the '08-'09 preseason power rankings". CNN. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
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  12. ^ "2009 recruiting class rankings". 20 November 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
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  15. ^ "The 2009 State Farm Wade Watch". Archived from the original on 3 September 2004. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
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External links