Texas A&M
25-3,13-1SEC
Arizona
19-5,13-4Pac-12
SEC Champions' Historic Season Ends in Sweet Sixteen
Mar 27, 2021 | Women's Basketball
SAN ANTONIO (AP)--Aari McDonald scored 31 points to lead No. 3 Arizona to a 74-59 win over No. 2 Texas A&M on Saturday night in the Sweet 16 and send the Wildcats to the regional final for the first time in program history.
The Wildcats had only made one previous trip the regional semifinals, when coach Adia Barnes was a player in 1998. This time they rode their Pac-12 player of the year and 13 3-pointers to the school's biggest victory yet. McDonald was 6-of-12 shooting from long range.
She did it on both ends of the court. The Pac-12's defensive player of the year shut down Aggies guard Jordan Nixon, whose late-game heroics had pulled Texas A&M through the first two rounds. Nixon finished with three points after scoring 35 in the second round.
Arizona advances to Monday's Mercado Region final against No. 5 Indiana, which upset top-seed North Carolina State earlier Saturday night.
McDonald came in averaging 19.6 points and scored 19 by halftime in carrying Arizona to a 35-32 lead. The Wildcats (19-5) stretched the lead to 13 by the end of the third quarter as Arizona made four 3-pointers, two by McDonald, in the period.
Texas A&M had won its first two games by a total of six points and now had to make a desperate bid to rally in front of a small but boisterous Aggies crowd in the Alamodome, just a three-hour drive from campus.
The Aggies cut the lead to 59-48 on Ciera Johnson's layup to start the fourth. But three straight Texas A&M turnovers and consecutive 3-pointers from Sam Thomas and Cate Reese had the Wildcats in total control with 4:41 to play.
Aaliyah Wilson scored 17 points to lead Texas A&M (25-3).
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POSTGAME NOTES
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M concludes the 2020-21 season with a 25-3 overall record and a 2-1 NCAA Tournament performance.
- Arizona advances to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history and now holds a 19-5 overall record.
- The Wildcats even the all-time series with the Aggies at 3-3.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M is now 29-16 in NCAA Tournament games all-time.
- After trailing by as many as eight, the Aggies utilized an 11-3 run beginning at the 5:17 mark of the second quarter to cut the deficit to three at halftime, 35-32.
- The Maroon & White outrebounded the Wildcats by a 37-29 margin.
- A&M shot at a higher clip from the field, sinking 47.1% of their attempted shots compared to Arizona's 46% mark.
- The Aggies once again capitalized on their advantage in the paint, outscoring the Wildcats by a 34-26 margin down low.
- The Maroon & White began its Sweet 16 matchup with a lineup of Aaliyah Wilson, Jordan Nixon, Kayla Wells, N'dea Jones and Ciera Johnson
- Texas A&M utilized the same starting lineup in every game this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Aaliyah Wilson led the team in scoring with 17 points and added 10 rebounds, good enough for her third double-double of the season.
- The Muskogee, Oklahoma, native scored in double figures 22 times this season and 41 times in her career.
- Wilson has hauled in double digits on the boards in four games in her career, all this season.
- Kayla Wells finished with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting in 37 minutes of play.
- The Dallas native scored in double figures 15 times in the 2020-21 season and 65 times in her career.
- N'dea Jones completed the season with a 10-point performance, marking her 19th double-digit scoring game this season and 48th in her career.
- Ciera Johnson snagged 10 rebounds in the Sweet 16 matchup, marking her 8th 10+ rebound performance this year and 25th of her career.
- Jordan Nixon had a game-high five assists in 30 minutes of action, her 8th 5+ assist game this season and 16th of her career.
- A&M Head Coach Gary Blair completes the 2020-21 season and now holds an 838-333 record all-time with a 430-170 mark in Aggieland.
- In the NCAA Tournament, the Women's Basketball Hall-of-Famer is now 41-25.
