Story Poster
Gary Blair
Kristi Bellock
Texas A&M Women's Basketball

Aggies draw three-seed in NCAAs, dance for 8th straight year

March 18, 2013
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Most of the time, the path of least resistance proves to be the best choice.

Especially in postseason basketball.

On Monday evening, nearly 600 Aggies watched at the Cox-McFerrin Center as the No. 9 Texas A&M women’s basketball team drew the three-seed in the Norfolk regional of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

By being placed in the Norfolk region, the Aggies (24-9) avoid playing overall number one-seed Baylor - a team most experts expected A&M to be paired with - until a possible championship game.

“Norfolk is a fair region,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair shortly after the bid was announced. “When I first saw California and Stanford paired together as a one and a two [in the Spokane regional], I figured they would have Notre Dame and Tennessee in Norfolk, and us and Baylor in Oklahoma City.”

A&M plays host to the first two rounds of the tournament and will open up play in a 3 P.M. game against 14th-seed Wichita State (24-9), the champions of the Missouri Valley Conference, on Saturday.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs A&M head coach Gary Blair has his Aggies prepped for another deep run in the NCAA Tournament {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"A&M head coach Gary Blair has his Aggies prepped for another deep run in the NCAA Tournament","MediaItemID":28484}
“It’s Wichita State’s first time into the tournament, just like Albany (A&M’s first round opponent in 2012),” stated Blair. “It’s good to have those new teams in for the first time, so I wish them well, but not too much on Saturday.”

If the Aggies prove to be victorious over the Shockers, they will most likely face sixth-seeded Nebraska (23-8) in the second round on Monday night. The Cornhuskers face-off against 11th-seeded UT-Chattanooga (29-3) at 5:30 P.M. Saturday evening.

Once out of the College Station sub-regional, A&M could see ACC champion Duke in the Sweet 16 before facing top-seeded Notre Dame in the Norfolk regional final.

The Aggies dropped a thriller to the Fighting Irish 82-73 in late December, however, A&M was very competitive against one of the country’s top teams, and even held a lead in the second half.

“Even though we have played each other, that’s just the way it is,” said Blair. “I would love to play Notre Dame again, but that means we have to get to the Elite Eight first.”

The SEC was awarded seven bids into the tournament which was second most to the Big East who was given eight.

 “I think it’s going to be a great Final Four,” concluded Blair. “Obviously Baylor is the overwhelming favorite, but you never know.”

Discussion from...

Aggies draw three-seed in NCAAs, dance for 8th straight year

7,106 Views | 3 Replies | Last: 11 yr ago by buckeylee
Ronnie Woodard
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Aggies draw three-seed in NCAAs, dance for 8th straight year
Ronnie Woodard
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Special thanks to Mac Resource Computers for their sponsorship of all women's basketball content produced throughout the season at TexAgs.com! For the third consecutive year, all WBB content will be available to you for free!
buckeylee
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FYI, ESPN's Graham Hays | espnW thinks the CS regional will be the place to be.. to wit
3. Where is the best place to be for the first two rounds?
Gold: College Station, Texas

First round: 3-seed Texas A&M vs. 14-seed Wichita State, 6-seed Nebraska vs. 11-seed Chattanooga

Kelsey Bone and her Texas A&M teammates host an intriguing regional.
College Station is not the easiest place to get to, but the four-team pod hosted by Texas A&M has everything the discerning fan wants out of the first two rounds. First off, all three games are potentially competitive. Nebraska need only ask Tennessee about No. 11 seed Chattanooga. The Lady Mocs opened the season with a win against the Lady Vols and have enough post offense in Ashlen Dewart and Faith Dupree to give the Huskers trouble. Speaking of Tennessee, former Lady Vol Jody Adams has a veteran, defensive-minded team at Wichita State that could struggle to defend Kelsey Bone but could also make it difficult for the Aggies to get the ball to their star center. If both favorites survive the opening round, we're left with an old Big 12 rematch between current Big Ten and SEC teams. Any court with Bone, Lindsey Moore and Jordan Hooper on it ought to interest fans and WNBA scouts.
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