March 19, 2006
Ashley Davis had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and 11th-seeded TCU beat sixth-seeded Texas A&M 69-65 Sunday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Sovereign Bank Arena.
The Horned Frogs (19-11) reached the second round for the fifth time in six years, and will face local favorite Rutgers in the second round of the Cleveland Regional on Tuesday night.
Moneka Knight scored 11 of her 14 points in the final 8 1/2 minutes to help TCU hold on after leading by 16 in the first half.
Takia Starks had 18 points and Morenike Atunrase added 14 for the Aggies (24-8), who were back in the tournament for the first time since 1996 and third overall.
Atunrase brought A&M within three points twice in the final 3 minutes, the second pulling it to 62-59 with 2:05 remaining. However, Lorie Butler-Rayford and Knight both hit three free throws in the final minute for TCU.
Butler-Rayford finished with 11 rebounds.
The Horned Frogs were considered a bubble team after going 2-9 against ranked teams, but won six of their last eight games to earn an at-large bid.
Neither team shot well in the first half, as TCU was 11-for-28 (39 percent) and A&M was 6-for-30 (20 percent). The Aggies were just 1-for-12 on 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, but 7-for-20 in the second half.
Vanessa Clementino made consecutive baskets to give TCU a 26-10 lead with 4:47 left in the first half, before A&M started coming back.
A'Quonesia Franklin made two free throws with just over 11 seconds left in the half to cut the Aggies' deficit to 33-25, but Davis hit a 3 at the buzzer to send TCU into the break with an 11-point lead.