Travelin' to Tech

Texas A&M's No. 13 women's basketball team will travel to Texas Tech Wednesday in an important Big 12 matchup.

A&M (16-5, 4-4) is in dire need of a victory in Lubbock. The Aggies have lost four of their last six games and haven't won on the road since beating Texas in the first game of conference play.

Head Coach Gary Blair, however, said he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"After we get through with this one road game against Tech, we play four out of our last seven at home and I think they're very important games," Blair said. "The thing is we're one game out of second-place. That's what we have to build on is being positive and knowing that nobody in front of us has had the road schedule we've had to open it up. We lost to three Top 10 teams. What we have to do is give a little credit and realize that now is time for us to step up."

In the first meeting between A&M and Tech this season, the Aggies dominated a majority of the game but couldn't quite pull away from the Lady Raiders. The 69-54 victory for A&M will not come so easy when the team travels to Tech's United Spirit Arena.

"They're playing with a lot of pride," Blair said about his alma mater. "We had won two-straight times until last year. We went out there and Tech played very well. We played very average and we got beat. That's what the road will do for you. You better have you're A game or at least you're A minus game if you expect to win. It doesn't matter if they're a Top 25 or not."

In order to escape west Texas with a win, the Aggies need senior Tanisha Smith to rise to the occasion. The guard continued her struggles in A&M's loss at Nebraska where she was held to only four points on 2-of-7 shooting.

"Everybody goes through a little bit of a slump," Blair said. "[Tanisha] Smith has been like the stock market, up-and-down right now. I'm ready for that up-swing. She needs a couple good ballgames in a row. To do that, she has to stay out of foul trouble."

After leading the Aggies in scoring for the third-consecutive game against Nebraska, junior Danielle Adams has developed into a solid and consistent player. She leads A&M in points and rebounds averaging 16.2 and 5.7 per game, respectively.

Blair has also identified junior Maryann Baker as a key to his team's success. Despite playing less than 10 minutes per game in 2009-10, Baker has displayed her toughness and ability to make plays that don't show up in the box score.

"Baker has been the positive side coming off the bench," Blair said. "She will go to the boards every time on the offensive end and will give us the hustle plays. We want her to give us those and the solid plays on offense."

Texas Tech (13-9, 1-7) will have to try to upset the Aggies without leading-scorer Kierra Mallard. The sophomore was suspended last Saturday. In their first game with A&M, Mallard put up nine points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Raiders.