Texas A&M
23-5, 13-3
Texas
17-13, 6-10
Texas A&M 67, Texas 60
Feb 28, 2007 | Women's Basketball
February 28, 2007
Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair had no trouble putting the biggest game of the year in the hands of his smallest player.
On Wednesday night, 5-foot-3 point guard A'Quonesia Franklin made four free throws in the final minute and scored a career-high 27 points to lead No. 14 Texas A&M to a 67-60 win over Texas to earn a share of the Big 12 Conference title.
"She's the Little Engine That Could," Blair said, referring to the famed children's book. "She just keeps finding a way. She might be the most underrated point guard in the country and she's got the biggest heart."
Texas A&M (23-5, 13-3) needed Baylor to beat Oklahoma to win the conference title outright, but the Sooners cruised to an 88-61 win. Still, it marks the first time in school history the Aggies have won a conference title.
Brittainey Raven scored a career high 19 points and Tiffany Jackson added 19 for Texas.
The Aggies led 61-58 before Texas was forced to foul Franklin, who made both free throws with 33.5 seconds left.
"Aqua is not the person you want to foul, but that was about the only chance we had," Longhorns coach Jody Conradt said.
Jackson's 3-point attempt at the other end bounced off the rim and Texas (17-13, 6-10) fouled Franklin again with 19 seconds remaining.
At that point the crowd rose to its feet and began chanting, "Big 12 champs, Big 12 champs."
Franklin responded by hitting two more free throws to put the game out of reach.
"It means a lot to everybody," Franklin said of the title. "There were a lot of doubters out there. We just worked hard to prove to them that we are a good team. We're a great team. The sky's the limit for us."
Conradt remained one victory away from joining Tennessee's Pat Summitt as the only coaches ?- men's or women's ?- with 900 wins.
The Aggies led by seven before four quick points by Texas, capped by a fastbreak layup by Erneisha Bailey, pulled the Longhorns to 61-58 with 1:48 remaining. Texas never led in the second half, but got within one point once and hung around until Texas A&M put the game away in the final seconds.
Franklin left the game with 3.8 seconds left to a standing ovation and gave Blair a bear hug before taking her seat on the bench.
"That was special," Blair said while patting the championship trophy. "I build teams around point guards. They've got to take coaching and know everyone's position and they can't make excuses."
After the game, the Aggies remained on the court, donned championship hats and T-shirts and were presented with the Big 12 championship trophy. The crowd stood cheering as a banner proclaiming the Aggies title was unfurled.
Franklin, who was not highly recruited in high school, was finally offered a scholarship to A&M late in the year and accepted. She said after the game that she reflected on her path from high school to the Big 12 title.
"It really hadn't dawned on me until now," she said. "It's just amazing.
The win is the Aggies 18th straight at home and gives Texas A&M a 16-0 record at Reed Arena this season to mark the first undefeated home record in school history.
A free throw by Jackson capped five straight points for the Longhorns and cut A&M's lead to 51-50 with 8:26 remaining. But the Aggies quickly answered when Franklin hit a 3 just seconds later.
A layup by Raven got Texas within 2, but it was again Franklin who kept the Aggies ahead when she made a 3 to stretch the lead to 57-52. A pair of free throws by Jackson got Texas within 3 but La Toya Micheaux made a layup to make it 59-54.
"A&M played great defense and they knew a lot of things that we were going to do and they knew what our strengths were and they took them away," Jackson said.
Conradt was proud of Jackson's effort in the senior's last regular-season game as a Longhorn.
"It was an all-around good game for Tiff," Conradt said. "I know what this means for her and I know how much she wanted to win this game and how much she wants to succeed."
Takia Starks added 18 points and Micheaux scored 11 and had 10 rebounds for Texas A&M.
The Aggies earned the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament since they swept both Oklahoma and Baylor in conference play.
The Aggies led by as many as eight points in the first half and were ahead 34-29 at halftime.
Postgame Notes...With the victory, Texas A&M splits the regular season series with rival Texas and earns a half point for the school in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown rivalry series?...The Aggies captured their first-ever conference championship title in school history?...They improve to a program-best 9-1 against Big 12 South foes this season?...A&M claimed a share of the Big 12 regular season title with Oklahoma with a school-record 13-3 mark in league play?...For the first time in league history, the Aggies enter the upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Women?™s Basketball Championship in Oklahoma City as the No. 1 seed after sweeping Oklahoma in the home-and-home series this season?...A&M went undefeated at home (16-0) for the first time in school history in 33 all-time seasons (31 sponsored seasons)?...They extended their school-record home court winning streak to 18 consecutive games?...The Aggies recorded their 23rd win of the season to tie as the third-most overall victories in school history next to a 23-9 campaign in 2005-06 and 23-8 season in 1993-94?...A total of 7,478 fans witnessed the milestone at Reed Arena to mark the fourth-largest crowd in school history?...It was the second-largest crowd of the season behind 8,886 fans versus Baylor on Jan. 13?...Sophomore Takia Starks (Houston, Texas) and junior A?™Quonesia Franklin (Tyler, Texas) reached double figures in the first half alone?...Starks had 10 and Franklin had 15?...A&M shot an improved 37.1 percent from the floor against the Longhorns compared to its last showing in Austin (31.4) on Jan. 21?...Franklin recorded a career-high 27 points with four-three pointers against Texas?...Starks registered 18 and has now scored in double figures in six of the team?™s last seven games?...Starks and Franklin last combined for 50 of the team?™s 78 points versus Oklahoma on Feb. 10?...They combined for 45 of the team?™s 67 points versus Texas?...The Aggies knocked down eight three-pointers for the game to mark its fourth time this season with eight-or-more threes?...They drained five in the first half of play with three from Starks?...A&M is now 10-2 in games decided under 10 points against league opponents this season?...Sophomore La Toya Micheaux (Missouri City, Texas) recorded her second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds?...A&M has now won their second-straight regular season finale?...Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair captured his first conference championship since his last season at Stephen F. Austin in 1992-93.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game ?...
?We are just a hardworking basketball team. We keep on finding ways. They (Texas) were putting so much attention on (Danielle) Gant. (La Toya) Micheaux stepped up and did a lot of great things. We did a good job of finding her. Gant and Micheaux did a great job on the offensive boards. They wanted it. (Earnesia) Williams and (Brittainey) Raven were just flying and we weren?™t blocking them out at all. The key for us was the boards. We had a lot of unforced turnovers. I thought it was a well-played ballgame for both teams. We did a good job on Williams and Carla (Cortijo). We knew (Tiffany) Jackson was going to get hers. We just didn?™t want her to get too many touches. Micheaux did a good job of staying in there and not getting into foul trouble against her. Give our kids some credit right there. This is a great rivalry and even better when you can win a championship at the same time. That?™s special. Our goal was to get back to the NCAA Tournament and go as deep as we could. All of sudden we found a way. We know our weaknesses and sometimes other teams don?™t know what our strengths are. We play hard and we have a lot of kids who can step up and they will all be back next year.?
On the team?™s strengths ?...
?We don?™t have a (Tiffany) Jackson, (Bernice) Mosby or (Courtney) Paris factor. We have the A&M factor. A&M is about the 12th Man, about leadership and about defense. That?™s something we do very well. We recruit players for their offense and teach them how to play our style of defense. I have the best defensive coordinator in the nation in Coach (Vic) Schaefer. He does a great job with it. It?™s hard to beat Aggies when there is a bunch of us around, the students particularly (in the crowd tonight).?
On junior point guard A?™Quonesia Franklin who had a career night ?...
?We weren?™t doing a good job on our last-minute shots. She (A?™Quonesia Franklin) hit a lot of last-second shots for us. When the ball goes down, I want my creators with the ball. We are working on it. Dribble attack it. She reads the defense and dissects the defense. She may be the most underrated point guard in the country, but has the biggest heart. Next year, she will have some help and will not have to play all 40 minutes. She is the little engine that could. That?™s her, she keeps finding a way. The ability to make clutch shots in the end is very good. I build teams around point guards, because they go into coaching as an extension of our coaching staff. That?™s all that we had. They were closing our driving lanes. We moved the ball and made the extra pass. We were taking each minute off the clock. That wears the defense out. We moved to a zone in the second half.?
On winning the program?™s first-ever Big 12 Championship and its significance ?...
?We needed to win it at home to continue the education of basketball fans in the area. They need to be able to learn to appreciate how hard it is to win a championship. We have all-staters and not All-Americans. Our kids deserve it, because they play hard. The Big 12 is extremely tough, but to come through the Big 12 South, it?™s a league within itself. This is significant because this is the first championship I won since Stephen F. Austin in 1993. I?™ve been playing in the big leagues and this is the first chance I have been able to play for it (conference championship). That?™s the significance of it. It?™s not going to stop. Our system works and our system changes the way people play in this league. They are starting to play defense first and then offense. You have to recruit players that can play on both ends.?
SOPHOMORE GUARD TAKIA STARKS
On earning a No. 1 seed in next week?™s Big 12 Championship ?...
?This is a first for everyone to worry about A&M. Now, we have a target on our back. We are going to go to Oklahoma City and we?™re going to try to take it all. We?™re going to go for the win. We?™re definitely going to try to be aggressive in every game. We?™re not going to lay down. We?™re going to put it all on the court and hopefully the outcome will be another Big 12 Championship.?
On her shooting against Texas ?...
?Coming into this game, Coach (Blair) told me that they were going to be up in my face and that they play our type of defense. I had to come off the screens perfect and judge whether I should fade or curl. The defense was all over me and they knew I was confident off the screens. It?™s just chemistry.?
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR POINT GUARD A?™QUONESIA FRANKLIN
On what their first Big 12 Championship means ?...
?It mean?™s a lot to everyone. There were a lot of doubters (this season). We worked hard and took one game at a time. We are a great team and the sky?™s the limit for us. For starters, this was one of our goals to win the Big 12 Championship. This is just one goal that has been met. We have two more goals to reach with both tournaments ahead. It hasn?™t sunk in just yet. Maybe tomorrow it will.?
On playing Texas the second time around and the crowd ?...
?In the first game, they (Texas) came out as the aggressor. We kind of laid back on our backs. We were at home and we were in our house. We didn?™t want them to come out being aggressive on our court. That was our one main thing, for us to come out and be the aggressor. This by far was our largest student crowd. I want to thank them for coming out and supporting us today.?
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE CENTER LA TOYA MICHEAUX
On her double-double and playing inside ?...
?I was thinking about my team and giving them more opportunities to run our offense. We were kind of slow in the first half and you can?™t go wrong with rebounding. Coach (Blair) loves that. I think I did my job tonight. That?™s my role on this team. I worked hard for those offensive rebounds. I told myself to go up strong. They?™re not going to block my shots, because they do not trust in our offense or think that I will score. I just tried to finish and do what my team needed me to do.?
TEXAS HEAD COACH JODY CONRADT
On the game ?...
?Congratulations to A&M. They played really well. It was a really high-level game. Both teams really fought and when it came down to crunch time, they made some plays and we didn?™t. That usually determines who is going to win the game which was evenly matched as this one. When you look at the stat sheet, you have to go to the 17 offensive boards that A&M had and that?™s way too many extra possessions that we gave a team that was playing pretty well. They are hard to guard. (A?™Quonesia) Franklin does a really good job of running their team and putting their players in a position where they are effective.?
TEXAS SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER TIFFANY JACKSON
On the loss ?...
?We thought we had the momentum, but A&M wouldn?™t be denied tonight. They just played really hard and really tough. Whenever we thought we had the momentum, somebody on their team made a big play.?
TEXAS FRESHMAN GUARD BRITTAINEY RAVEN
On the must-win situation for Texas ?...
?This was a big game that we needed to get. I tried to come out the best that I could to help my team. A&M?™s guards are really talented. We tried to stay as disciplined as we could. They just hit some good shots.?
