This Gallant Group
Jan 26, 2021 | Women's Basketball
2011 National Champions celebrating 10th anniversary this weekend
Texas A&M will honor the 2011 National Champions at Sunday's game against Georgia (4 p.m. tipoff). Click here to be there for the celebration.
Sometimes the world needs new heroes.
That’s exactly what the 2010-11 Fightin’ Texas Aggies were. They were a new hope for a game that had been dominated by so few.
As they stood atop the women’s basketball world on April 5, 2011 after defeating Notre Dame 76-70 for the national championship, they showed the nation that you don’t have to have the “best” to be the best.
Smothering defense, fundamentals, efficient offense, clutch performances and hard work was their recipe for immortality.
“Women’s basketball needed a change,” head coach Gary Blair said. “The country was ready to see someone else win it.”
Nearly 10 years have passed since Texas A&M brought the national championship back to the 12th Man and Aggieland.
You probably remember the images of the team celebrating and coach Gary Blair doing the “Dougie” on the championship podium. But do you remember how they got there?
It started with a loss.
“Women’s basketball needed a change. The country was ready to see someone else win it.”Gary Blair
“Probably my lowest moment as a coach was the season prior to our National Championship,” associate head coach Kelly Bond-White said. “I felt absolutely gutted for our players as we stood on the floor after that loss to Gonzaga. We knew we were that team that was building towards greatness. I just remember the pain in that locker room that year. There wasn’t a lot of talk, there wasn’t a lot of noise. There were players making a vow that the next journey would manifest into something greater.”
That loss to Gonzaga in 2009-10 haunted the Aggies all offseason. Texas A&M watched a future Aggie Hall of Famer’s game-winner fall just short in the big dance and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen was lost.
Like coach said, that team made a vow.
They made a promise of greatness.
The Maroon & White began the 2010-11 year 6-0, dominating their opponents by a 27-point differential. However, they ran into No. 5 Duke who defeated the Ags 61-58 at the Jimmy V Classic in Durham, N.C.
Many times you hear of how a loss completely changes the trajectory of a team. Either they fold, or they rise. Fortunately, you know how this story ends.
“It served as a reset for us,” Aggie guard Sydney Carter said. “It was two good teams battling it out. A real championship atmosphere that prepared us for the tough games we would see later in the season.”
From that moment on, the Aggies went on a 12-game winning streak and went 13-3 in conference play. Highlighting this were the three times A&M handed rival Texas a loss.
But that wasn’t out of the norm for this group.
“We owned Texas.” Carter said.
Her class had never lost to the school down the road, and that third win marked the Aggies’ 11th-straight victory over the Longhorns.
Now, there was another blemish on the year for A&M. That blemish came in the form of the Baylor Lady Bears, Kim Mulkey and Brittney Griner. Three losses were suffered at the hands of Baylor that year, including a pair of three-point losses and the Big 12 Tournament crown.
The Lady Bears had the Aggies’ number. As fate would have it on Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament, a fourth meeting could be had if both teams reached the Sweet Sixteen.
A mission to get their fourth chance at Baylor was ahead of them. The Maroon & White obliterated their competition, winning each game by at least 20 points and vanquishing Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer and Georgia’s Andy Landers, both Hall of Fame coaches.
With the fourth meeting looming, so was born a new battle cry.
“Fourth Time’s the Charm”.
As the team entered the arena, so did signs adorning the new saying. And quickly the Aggies showed that they were ready, jumping out to a 7-0 advantage and 11-point halftime lead.
They never let up, winning wire-to-wire, 58-46, and proving that the fourth time was indeed the charm. A victory when it mattered most on the back of Carter’s 22 points.
After the win, Sydney Colson made the reason her team had made it this far known.
"Our team has gone through so much. We've gone through so many things. We're here with so much adversity," Colson said after the Elite Eight. "We have so much resilience. We're the hardest workers in America by far."
Carter recalled. “I can very vividly remember telling the team that nobody deserves this more than us because nobody in the country is working as hard as we are. We could guarantee that.”
Their hard work was put to the test once again. With the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal waiting for them, and little did they know that they were in for an instant classic.
The game was tough and hard fought, but Stanford looked to be heading to its third national title game in four years when it took a 10-point lead with just six minutes left to play.
However, the Aggies and their toughness took over. The defense made the Cardinal uncomfortable and the offense found its groove.
A&M finally took the lead with just under a minute to play. The lead changed hands five times in that final minute.
A minute that seemed to last an eternity.
With both teams going back and forth, it seemed the game was over when the Cardinal took the lead with nine seconds remaining and no A&M timeouts left. But the ball was inbounded to Colson, who had re-entered the game after an injury, and as she raced up the court to find the incomparable Tyra White for the game-winning shot.
White had just hit the biggest shot in program history. Blair and everyone else knew, that’s just what she did.
“Tyra White hit big shot, after big shot, after big shot,” Blair said. “She’s a person that didn’t need to shoot a ton of shots, she just needed the big shot opportunity.”
That could have been enough for the Aggies. The emotional drain of that game and the journey to get there. But Carter remembered a different mindset.
“If we didn't win, we would have been selling ourselves short. We had worked way too hard to lose.” Carter said.
Colson added something very simple, yet powerful after the last-second win. "It's time to make history,"
And that’s exactly what they would do.
The game against Notre Dame was a battle, but once Danielle Adams stepped foot on the court in the second half it was all but over.
The soon to be All-American exploded for 22 points in the half and led her team to victory. The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament carried the Aggies. One, because she could, but mostly because she knew that she had to.
"I had a little voice in my head, 'Don't let this team down.'” Adams said after the national championship. “I had to do this for my teammates. They've been doing everything for me. I decided to take them on my back and just let them ride on my back."
For Colson, there was a moment she treasures from that run. A moment she shares with Aggies that came before her and paved the path she was walking.
“There were a bunch of our former players in the stands and they were so pumped,” Colson said. “Seeing the group that really got things started at Texas A&M being able to be there and see all the hard work they put in. Even though they didn’t get the ring, they had a hand in us winning the championship. Whenever I talk about the championship I always mention them. Because they impacted my life and my career.”
Famously, the confetti that rained down that night was every color but maroon. It felt like the last ditch effort of the basketball world to say that the Aggies weren’t one of those “traditional powers.” But here they were, and they had earned it. They were the better team.
“I wanted to throw it right back up in the air and let people enjoy the moment a little longer,” Blair said.
As player after player, coach after coach and administrator after administrator cut down their own piece of the net, Blair wishes he could have had even more people climb that ladder.
“If I could have, I would have had the 1,000 people in the stands get up on the ladder with us and cut down the net. It goes by so fast but you don’t want to miss the moment.”
Once the Aggies’ plane touched down in Aggieland, the support of the 12th Man was there to welcome them.
“When we came back from the airport we saw a train of people just honking all the way down the street,” Blair said. “People were rushing over and there were thousands of people. That was so special.”
Carter added. “It was just a surreal experience to have the entire city of Bryan-College Station behind us. I can remember stories being told of how people were out and students were losing their minds watching the game.”
“I think that it allowed other people to see that other teams have the pieces. You don't have to have a roster full of McDonald's All-Americans or big name people that are coming out of high school. You don’t have to have a roster comprised of that to build something that turns out perfect.”-Sydney Carter ‘12
You still hear stories of people who were all over the world when they watched the Aggies become national champions. People in places like Afghanistan, California or even at the game in Indianapolis.
For many, it doesn’t feel like a decade has passed. The memories lay untouched in our minds, as if the clock had just hit zero.
We will never forget the day the Aggies changed women’s basketball forever. Standing toe-to-toe with expectation and assumption with courage, bravery and the Aggie Spirit.
They were and still are a beacon of hope.
On Jan. 31, 2021 at 4 p.m. these national championships will be honored inside of Reed Arena as they descend upon Aggieland from their new homes across the world. When you see them, you’ll say exactly what St. Peter’s angel said on the Last Corps Trip of the Aggie team.
“By Jove, I do believe I’ve seen this gallant group before.”
You’ll remember them as they were and as they are. Champions, legends, heroes and most importantly…
Aggies.
