Seniors and #15 A&M Host #11 OU in Home-Finale

Last season, it took a 14-point comeback and a driving lay-up by Takia Starks at the buzzer for Texas A&M's women's basketball team to upset Oklahoma. Tuesday, the No.11 Sooners will return to Reed Arena to face the No. 15 Aggies on "Senior Night".

"With us storming the floor and all that, I thought it was pretty special," said A&M head coach Gary Blair. "I thought it was a great moment in our time. (Takia) Stark's shot to me was as important as Acie Law's shot against Texas. Different play, different gender, but it was just as important to us."

Blair hopes that the excitement of last year's game will bring students to Tuesday's game. "Hopefully we'll have a great crowd for the seniors. I think these kids deserve it. When you play No. 11 in the country, you're supposed to have a good crowd. Hopefully people will come out and say 'hello' and 'goodbye' to the seniors."

With only two games left in the regular season, the Aggies (20-7, 7-6) are in the middle of a four-way tie for fourth in the Big 12 standings. If A&M can find a way to get into the top four, they will be awarded a bye in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.

"There's only been one team that has won the conference tournament without being a top-four seed," Blair said. "I'd love to have a top-four seed but as long as we're on the right side of the bracket, I'm happy."

Three members of the Class of 2010, guard Tanisha Smith and forwards Damitria Buchanan and Katrina Limbaha, will play their last game at Reed Arena when the Sooners come to town.

"This will probably be the most memorable game for me," Smith said. "There's going to be a lot of emotions in the game but the 'W' is not always the key. The key is the girls. I love my teammates and my coaches. The 'W' is the reward."

In her final collegiate season, Smith has averaged 15.1 points and 3.52 assists per game, ranking 10^th and eighth in the Big 12, respectively. Defensively, Smith tenacity has led her to rank second in the conference in steals with 2.22 per game.

Doing the dirty-work down low, Buchanan has done an excellent job of replacing four-year starter La Toya Micheaux. For the 2009-10 season, Buchanan has averaged 3.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in 23 starts. The Houston-native is also coming off one of the best performances of her career at Colorado.

"If Buchanan can keep going like she has the last couple of games, she's very special," Blair said. "Buchanan will make a lot more money than all the WNBA players because she has a degree and she'll have her master's after this year."

Unfortunately, Limbaha will be unable to play Tuesday due to injury. The forward from Latvia has enjoyed her time at A&M however, and sees her time in Aggieland as a dream come true.

"It's been the best four-years of my life so far," Limbaha said. "My dream has been to come to A&M and play basketball in the United States. It's made me a better person and a better player."

In their first meeting with the Sooners this season, the Aggies fell 74-65 in Norman. A poor first-half performance put A&M in an 11-point hole at halftime that was too deep to climb out of. The defeat spurred the Aggies on to a four-game losing streak on the road that knocked them out of contention for the Big 12 regular season championship.