Texas A&M
Florida State
Texas A&M Women's Basketball
Aggies look for Sweet Sixteen bid vs. fifth-seeded FSU on Monday
On Monday night when the NCAA Tournament field was revealed, the Texas A&M women's basketball team was awarded a four-seed for their regular season efforts. With that four-seed came the right to host the first two rounds of the tournament and the expectation of advancing, at least, to the Sweet Sixteen.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
With a win against Florida State, A&M head coach Gary Blair will advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the 11th time in his career.
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Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Courtney Walker is already one of the most decorated players in A&M history and looks to add to that on Monday.
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"Walker is as good of a player as we've seen all year," Semrau said. "She can score the basketball. There's a lot of really nice players out there, but she's uncanny in the way that she can score."
In order to live up to that expectation, the Aggies will have to find a way to defeat fifth-seeded Florida State on Monday night. In game one of the College Station sub-regional on Saturday, the Seminoles defeated 12th-seeded Middle Tennessee State 72-55 behind 17 points from guard Leticia Romero and 15 points and nine rebounds from center Adut Bulgak.
When asked who the Seminoles remind him of, A&M head coach Gary Blair drew similarities to the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats got the better of the Aggies on Senior Night, 71-58, just weeks ago.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
With a win against Florida State, A&M head coach Gary Blair will advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the 11th time in his career.
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"They rotate in four post players," said Blair. "Kentucky rotates in three post players. They're very solid, I would say very similar to Kentucky. They might even be a little more disciplined than Kentucky on how they run their set offenses."
After that loss to the Wildcats on February 28th, the Aggies were grateful for another chance to play on the Reed Arena floor. Now knowing that tomorrow's contest against the Seminoles will be the absolute last time playing at Reed this year, A&M point guard Jordan Jones says her team is ready to take full-advantage of the home finale.
"The first thing we recognized when we all got our scouting reports was the picture of Reed Arena and the saying, 'The real senior day'," Jones said. "That really just resonated with us because this truly is the last time the seniors will play at Reed Arena."
However, not all of the Aggie seniors will get their shot at Senior Night redemption. Before Saturday's contest with Missouri State, Texas A&M announced the suspension of senior Courtney Williams and junior Shlonte Allen. Blair confirmed after the game that they would not be available for Monday's game.
Though the loss of Williams effects the Aggies, it may provide more offensive opportunities for the other Courtney. Coming into the tournament Courtney Walker sat just 35 points shy of the A&M all-time scoring record. She scored 29 against Missouri State and now needs just seven points to break Takia Starks' mark.
Walker would surely take an Aggie win over Florida State on Monday over the all-time record, but Blair seems to think the two are not exclusive.
"Well, if she doesn't break the record, we lose the game," Blair stated. "That's simple math right there. I think Courtney would be glad to get the record next weekend and her score five points while everyone else goes for 20 as long as we're surviving and advancing."
Florida State head coach Sue Semrau agreed that Walker's ability to score is what sticks out most about A&M.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Courtney Walker is already one of the most decorated players in A&M history and looks to add to that on Monday.
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If Walker is able to score seven or more against the Seminoles, she'll add another to her already long list of accolades. But while Walker's personal accomplishments are nice, it's the Aggies as a whole that still have a chance to leave their mark on the history books of the program.
"(The scoring record) would mean a lot," said Walker. "But it's about the legacy that all of us leave behind. We all have had great individual careers and a great experience together as seniors, but it's about another addition to all of our legacy that we're leaving behind."
The chance to keep the season rolling and add to the legacy comes tomorrow at 5:30 and can be seen on ESPN2 or via the WatchESPN app.
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