Spring Break
Elite defeat
Aggies' NCAA Tournament run ends in the Elite Eight at hands of No. 1 seed Tennesse
By: Clif Turner
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: News
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And then just like that, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers and legendary head coach Pat Summit did what they do best. They found a way to win basketball games at the end
Tennessee junior Candace Parker fought through dislocating her shoulder twice and led the Volunteers in scoring with 26 points to push her team to a 53-45 victory in the Oklahoma City Regional final. Tennessee, the No. 1 seeded team in the region, advances to face LSU in a national semifinal game on Sunday.
The Aggies led by as many as five points with less than seven minutes to play before Tennessee turned up the heat on the A&M offense, forcing the Aggies into a critical five-minute scoring drought that finally ended with a free throw by junior Takia Starks with 1:18 to play.
"It was great defense by both teams," said A&M Head Coach Gary Blair. "Their perimeter defense was a lot better than what we expected."
Even with the scoring run by Tennessee, A&M found themselves trailing by only two points with 50 seconds left before Volunteer Alexis Hornbuckle drained a deep three-pointer to ice the game for the defending national champions.
A&M finishes the season with a record of 29-8. Last night's defeat was the first loss suffered by the Aggies since dropping a decision to Oklahoma back on Feb. 12, nearly two months ago.
"I'm just so proud of this basketball team," Blair said. "When you look at the eight schools that were left, this is the way it should be. There is parody and it's coming. We need more Texas A&M's out there."
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