Why Not Us? A&M stands against UConn for Final Four berth
LINCOLN, NE – In 2011, the last time the Texas A&M women’s basketball team was in the Elite Eight, the Aggies upset a trio of teams to win the program’s first ever national title. To start that run, A&M knocked off a Brittany Griner led Baylor squad in dramatic fashion in the Dallas regional final.
While the win over the Bears,and the following victories over both Stanford and Notre Dame were monumental, a victory over the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies on Monday night would go down as the largest single-game upset in school history.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Connecticut sophomore point guard Moriah Jefferson is her squad's most valuable player according to A&M head coach Gary Blair.
“It’s a 40 minute game, it’s not a best of seven series,” said Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair. “If it was best of seven, I would not like my chances. But it’s one game of 40 minutes. It might happen.”
Connecticut comes into Monday’s Elite Eight contest undefeated (37-0) and as the odds-on-favorite to win their ninth overall and second consecutive national title. Beating their opponents by an average of 36 points per game this season, the 2013-2014 Huskies could possibly be the best collegiate women’s basketball team to ever be put together.
“I like (Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma's) team,” said Blair. "I think it's his best team that he's ever had."
Led by Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award finalist Breanna Stewart, the Huskies starting five presents a challenge at every position on the floor. But perhaps the most overlooked of the five is their most valuable. According to Blair, it’s sophomore point guard Moriah Jefferson who makes the Huskies tick.
“You bet,” Blair said on if he recruited Jefferson out of high school. "She's the most valuable player to that team. Not the best player, but the most valuable for what she's done for that team this year."
A native of Glenn Heights, Texas, Jefferson and A&M point guard Jordan Jones have some history with each other. During their high school years, the sophomores were teammates on the DFW Elite AAU team. The two are still best of friends off the court, but when the lights come on Monday night, all bets are off and the friendship will be put on hold for the duration of the game.
“She's family, she's like my sister,” Jones said of Jefferson. "We've talked about (the game) a lot, but we know that once we step on the court it's not Jordan and Moriah, it's Texas A&M and Connecticut."
If there is one soft spot in the Connecticut armor, it could be their short bench. Hampered by injuries, the Huskies only go about six players deep. That was evident in their Sweet Sixteen matchup with BYU on Saturday afternoon when the starting five combined for 181 of 200 possible minutes of game action.
With that in mind, if the Aggies (27-8) can somehow force early foul trouble and make Auriemma dive into his shallow bench, A&M may be able to hang with the Huskies for longer than expected.
“Where their weaknesses are, I'm not sure besides their bench,” Blair stated. "They just don't have the numbers they usually have because of injuries. We're still going to run the ball when we have the numbers."
Still, even if the Aggies are able to get to the Connecticut bench, they will be hard pressed to come out with a victory.
But you would be silly to think that the possibility of a monumental upset is incapable of happening.
Probable? Not in the slightest. Possible? Definitely. The two teams square off on Monday night at 8:30 pm and can be seen live on ESPN.
“For 40 minutes on Monday night, why not?" Blair said. "If somebody's going to win a national championship, I want them to go through us first.
"Keep telling us what we can't do, and we'll show you what we can do. I'm proud of us."
