» Arizona squashes A&M’S title hopes.
Texas A&M coach Gary Blair won a national title a decade ago. That was a big deal for Aggies, but Blair said this season perhaps was more memorable.
“This year means more to me as a coach than any team I have ever coached because of what they’ve had to go through,” Blair said. “Winning the championship was great, but that championship team did not have to go through what these young ladies and all these teams have (gone through).”
A&M’S aspiration of winning another national title, this time 170 miles from its campus, fell four victories short. Third-seeded Arizona defeated second-seeded A&M 74-59 on Saturday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in the Alamodome.
“We exceeded my expectations,” said senior guard Aaliyah Wilson, who led the Aggies with 17 points on 8of-13 shooting. “Did we live up to our full potential? No, I don’t think so. We definitely had a national-championship contending team. If we had lived up to our potential, we would still be playing Monday night.”
The Aggies, who wrapped up their season at 25-3, were trying to advance to their first Elite Eight since 2014. In 2011, they won the school’s lone women’s basketball national title in Indianapolis.
Blair on Saturday was referencing college players this season playing through the
COVID-19 pandemic and everything that came with the tall task, including plenty of seclusion and loads of COVID-19 tests along the way. The NCAA Tournament is being held in and around San Antonio in its entirety because of the pandemic.
“What these young ladies have gone through this year — they never opted out of a game,” Blair said of his Aggies. “The sacrifices that these 18- to 23-year-olds had to make is unbelievable, and that’s the same thing any coach would say right now.”
Blair added that plenty of adults might contend they’ve also gone through a difficult year, but he said it’s not the same as a college athlete continuing to compete through a pandemic.
“The mental price they had to pay … but we (played a season) because we needed it, and we wanted to give hope to people …” Blair said. “We did this to give American people some hope — this is what studentathletes can do.”
The upstart Wildcats (19-5) advance to face fourth-seeded Indiana, which upset top-seeded North Carolina State on Saturday, in Arizona’s first Elite Eight on Monday. Arizona guard Aari Mcdonald led all scorers on Saturday with a season-high 31 points, proving a tough task for A&M defenders all four quarters.
“(The Wildcats) wanted the loose balls more, and they got the offensive rebounds,” Blair said. “We faced a great player in Mcdonald. When they made their (runs), we couldn’t answer back because of our turnovers. We looked like the younger team, and they looked like the veteran team.”
Arizona on Saturday committed eight turnovers, compared to 19 for the Aggies, and the Wildcats made a season-high 13 3-pointers on 29 attempts.
“Once I get going, I’m hard to stop,” Mcdonald said. “I’m hard to stop as it is. I’m not being cocky at all. I’m just confident in what I can do. We’re playing well together right now, offensively and defensively, so the sky is the limit. … We’re here for the long haul, and we don’t want to go home. It’s do or die, and we want to get to the championship game.”
Arizona entered the contest averaging six made 3pointers per game. The Aggies made only two 3-pointers in eight attempts.
“They had a really good press defense and just applied pressure,” Wilson said. “At times, we got ahead of ourselves in getting to the tempo that they wanted us to. They just have a really good defensive team … and we didn’t answer as much as we should have.”
Arizona coach Adia Barnes starred for the Wildcats in 1998, the last time they advanced to the Sweet 16.
“We just beat a really good team, and Gary Blair is a legend,” Barnes said. “He has so much experience, and always has a competitive team that’s capable of winning a championship. We knew this was going to be a very tough game. We beat a really good team that could have won a championship.
“Our room believed in each other and believed this was possible. We weren’t satisfied with being in the Sweet 16.”