Texas A&M
26-8
Gonzaga
29-4
Second-Seeded Aggies Fall To Gonzaga In NCAA Second Round
Mar 22, 2010 | Women's Basketball
March 22, 2010
Box Score |
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Gonzaga Box Score in PDF Format 
SEATTLE (AP) - Vivian Frieson scored 23 points, including the go-ahead 12-footer with 17 seconds left, to lead seventh-seeded Gonzaga to a 72-71 win over second-seeded Texas A&M on Monday night in the NCAA Second Round.
Texas A&M went ahead on Tanisha Smith's baseline drive with 37 seconds left while being fouled. But Smith fell hard on her hip and missed the ensuing free throw.
With West Coast Conference MVP Courtney Vandersloot having fouled out, the Bulldogs (29-4) went to Frieson, their senior leader. She drove left of the lane and pulled up for her eighth basket of the game.
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Texas A&M had one last chance, but the Bulldogs defense harassed Danielle Adams into a forced jumper from 18 feet as time ticked away. The shot was short and the Bulldogs were on their way to the regional semifinals for the first time in school history, setting off a wild celebration for Gonzaga.
Adams, the Aggies' burly center, led A&M (26-8) with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but couldn't lead the Aggies back from an 13-point deficit in the opening moments of the second half.
Tiffanie Shives scored 11 points and Katelan Redmon added 10 for Gonzaga, who will face the winner of Tuesday night's game between Vanderbilt and Xavier on Saturday night in Sacramento. Vandersloot, the Bulldogs spunky engine, suffered through one of her worst games of the season with just nine points and 11 turnovers, but the Bulldogs are moving on.
It was the middle of December, in Las Vegas, when Gonzaga and Texas A&M met for the first time. For the first 20 minutes, the Aggies did as expected and dominated the smaller, less athletic Bulldogs.
But something flipped in the second half for Gonzaga. They tore away the mystique of their Big 12 foes and proved most importantly to themselves they belonged on the same stage as a ranked team like the Aggies. Gonzaga turned a 20-point deficit into a narrow four-point loss to the Aggies on that December evening in front of few hundred people in a casino events center. Admittedly, the Bulldogs say that was the turning point in their season.
They haven't lost since.
Gonzaga bolted to an 11-point halftime lead, forcing the Aggies into uncharacteristic mistakes and closing the first-half on a 12-2 run to take a 42-31 lead.
That lead grew to 44-31 in the first moments of the second half after A&M coach Gary Blair was called for a technical foul, storming a few feet on the court after a no-call. That ignited the Aggies, who outscored Gonzaga 21-6 over the next 8 minutes and took their first lead on Smith's 3-pointer with 11:49 left. Kayla Standish answered for the Bulldogs and started a back-and-forth final 11 minutes where neither team ever led by more than three points.
Gonzaga seemed to withstand the Aggies charge and took a 70-67 lead on Shives 3-pointer with 2:07 left. But the Aggies answered with free throws by Sydney Colson and Smith's driving basket to retake the lead.
Smith finished with 17 points, 13 coming in the second half and Tyra White scored 11.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 11th time this season and 11th consecutive ballgame, Texas A&M used the starting five of Tanisha Smith's, Damitria Buchanan (9-2).
• The Aggies end the season at 26-8 overall to match the second-most wins in the 36-year history of the program next to a 26-7 campaign in 2008-09 and a 26-18 campaign in 1978-79.
• Danielle Adams registered her third career double-double with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. It was her ninth-straight game in double figures. She led the team in scoring on 17 occasions off the bench this season.
• Adoara Elonu brought down a career-high 14 rebounds along with seven points and a career-high five assists.
• Tyra White scored a career-high 11 points in five NCAA Tournament games played since her redshirt freshman campaign in 2008-09.
• A&M made eight blocked shots which tied an NCAA Tournament high of eight made versus UT Arlington in the NCAA First Round in 2007.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game ...
"Give credit to Gonzaga. They played hard and made the plays down the stretch. We gave everything we had to get back into the ballgame. We've been shooting (free throws) 69 percent all year - the best we've shot in seven years, but tonight it killed us. Particularly, when Danielle (Adams) made the three-point play and needed the free throw to put us up by four in a two-possession game. They made the play when (Courtney) Vandersloot penetrated, made the extra pass and they kicked the ball to the corner and somebody stepped up and hit the three to tie the ballgame. We're not used to being behind, but I was so proud of my team, because we had to fight to get back into this game. We had some things go our way. We missed some easy stuff, but they missed some easy stuff, too. It's a shame that one of us has to go home, because I think you've got two basketball teams that could go on and be great in the (Sacramento) regional. By far, this is the hardest second-round game that we've had to play since I've been in the NCAAs. I told our team before the game that we're playing a very, very good team. They executed, we didn't guard very well the first 20 minutes and then we put the pressure on them after the half. Then they started turning the ball over. As a result, Vandersloot had an uncharacteristic game of six assists and 11 turnovers. But, we were pitching in ourselves. It was a hard-fought ballgame. The crowd was into it and it was just a great atmosphere. Hopefully, the television cameras didn't start going from game-to-game-to-game, because the game of the night was right here."
Texas A&M Junior Forward/Center Danielle Adams
On the last play of the game ...
"As I saw Sydney (Colson) driving the ball down the lane, I popped out, because I didn't want to cause traffic. Then she passed it to me and I just shot it. I was hoping it would go in. They're a good team - very athletic and very quick. I wish them the best of luck. Like Coach (Blair) said, `this was the game of the night.' We were down at halftime and we fought our way back. We had the lead a couple of times and we just couldn't pull it off. I give all of my teammates credit. I enjoy playing with them. We just need to get back in the gym and focus on next year. I just love my seniors. Our seniors are probably one of the best classes in the whole nation."
Texas A&M Sophomore Forward Adaora Elonu
On guarding Vivian Frieson ...
"She's a tough matchup. She had us on our heels in the first half. I think we did a better job in the second half of containing her. She's a very good player, but in the second half, we did a better job of not letting her get the looks that she did in the second half."
Texas A&M Junior Point Guard Sydney Colson
On Vandersloot fouling out and that being a possible turning point ...
"I thought we had some good chances down the stretch, but we just didn't make some plays. No. 23 (Katelan Redmon) ended up getting an offensive board on one of their free throws and that was a big play. There was no one play that changed the game, but yes, getting her out of the game maybe a little earlier would've been better instead of like 1:20 on the clock. But, she did enough for her team to make sure they got the win. It's just unfortunate that we didn't take advantage of it."
Texas A&M Senior Forward Damitria Buchanan
On turning point of the game ...
"They (Gonzaga) fought hard the first half and we had a 11-point deficit at halftime. They're a great team. It was hard to come back, but we made a run and we got back in the game. Their No. 12 (Vivian Frieson), she's an awesome player and she is a senior for their team. She stepped up and made some big shots down the stretch. I think she made a difference in the game."
Gonzaga Head Coach Kelly Graves
On the Aggies ...
"First of all, I do want to congratulate Coach Blair and the Aggies on a great season. We followed them this year with great respect. He is as classy of a coach as I've ever met. He probably doesn't realize it, how much I have learned from him over the years. He has classy young women on his basketball team."
On winning ...
"I am obviously very excited and very proud, and quite frankly very humbled. We were fortunate enough to win tonight. I'm just really proud, proud that we get to do a first in our program and that is to go to the Sweet 16."
Gonzaga Senior Forward Vivian Frieson
On the game winning play and shot ...
"Originally, I thought on my drive she was going to come over and help, so we would have Tiffanie (Shives) wide open in the corner, and who else would you want to shoot the three, she's a great shooter, and she didn't come. So I thought okay I'll come and eat up space, it is something that coach always tells me to do, instead of settling for that longer shot. Step in and take a midrange shot and I did that. On that last timeout I might have seemed as cool as ice, but in my head I was like we cannot go home. I'm not ready to go home. This is not how I want to finish my senior year."
On leading Gonzaga to their first Sweet 16 appearance ...
"It means the world to me. Heather and I have been a part of a lot of firsts at this university. It felt great to go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2007, it felt great to win our first game last year against Xavier and it feels even better to go to the Sweet 16."
Gonzaga Junior Point Guard Courtney Vandersloot
On team effort ...
"We just know we have so many weapons out there. It's one of those things where we know if we put it all together, we can be a pretty deadly team. And I think that's what we did tonight. It was a team effort; it wasn't just five, it wasn't just one. It took the whole team to beat (Texas A&M)."
On turnovers ...
"They played a big factor. It's one of those things where it's tough to get into a flow if you turn the ball over... There were some times when I think we couldn't get into a flow because I kept turning the ball over, but luckily we had some players step up and make plays."
