 "Photo: The File")
Texas A&M women's basketball Head Coach Gary Blair wants 10,000 fans in Reed Arena for the No. 9 Aggies' game against No. 5 Baylor on Wednesday.
"If we're in the Top 10, I expect people to show up," Blair said. "If not, come knock on my door and give me a reason why you couldn't come. It better be a good one."
A&M is 7-0 at home in 2008-2009 and 14-2 overall. The Aggies are coming off their first Big 12 loss of the season after losing at No. 3 Oklahoma on Sunday.
Despite the loss, Blair said, he has to believe in what he's doing and not change the offense or defense. He said that Associate Head Coach Vic Schaefer's defense is one that will work.
The Aggies split the series with Baylor in 2007-2008,
losing at Waco on Jan. 12 and winning at home on March 1. At the home game, 5,686 fans showed up.
"If you're in conference play, people need to buy into what we're doing," Blair said. "I know we've increased our
season ticket base, but at the same time it's still not enough. We've got to increase our fan base and it starts with the student body and the faculty and then it branches out to the community."
Before losing to Oklahoma, the Aggies had a 2-0 start in conference play, the best Big 12 start in the program's
history. A&M trailed the Sooners 35-22 at halftime before falling 71-59.
"I saw an A&M team that didn't give up, regardless of the score," Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey said in a news conference, according to the Baylor Athletic Department.
Mulkey played under Blair when he was an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech in the 1980s. Mulkey, who joined Baylor in 2000, has led the Lady Bears to a national championship and seven NCAA tournament appearances.
In 2008-2009, Baylor is 3-0 in conference play with wins against Colorado, Iowa State and No. 24 Oklahoma State. In nonconference action, the Bears defeated No. 2 Stanford on Nov. 16.
A&M has defeated three Top 25 teams: No. 23 Pittsburgh, No. 24 Texas Christian and No. 25 New Mexico.
"I remember Gary making a comment at the Big 12 meetings that this is the best team, with the most depth that he's ever had, even going back to his Louisiana Tech days," Mulkey said. "That pretty much sums it up."
The Aggies will face the top rebounding team in the Big 12. Baylor averages 46.5 rebounds a game, 2.7 rebounds more than No. 2 Oklahoma and 6.3 more than A&M.
Baylor ranks at the bottom of the Big 12 in 3-point attempts and is No. 10 in 3-point field goal percentage. Blair said his team will have to compete with the Lady Bears' inside game. Baylor ranks No. 5 in the Big 12 in field goal percentage,
hitting 44 percent of its shots.
Junior point guard Danielle Wilson ranks No. 6 in the Big 12 and leads the Lady Bears in scoring with 15.3 points a game. Blair said Wilson is the most improved player in the conference.
On the Aggies' side of the court, Blair will look to senior Takia Starks to lead the offense. Starks leads the Aggies in scoring with 15.2 points a game and set the pace against Oklahoma with 19 points.
"When I looked at all those people in the face on Friday and Saturday that donated all that money to build this beautiful facility that we have, as a coach I felt an obligation," Blair said about the dedication of the Cox-McFerrin Center. "I felt an obligation to my team as a coach to put a winning product out there on the court." c
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