Texas A&M one step away from national title

INDIANAPOLIS - It's there for the taking. The only thing standing in Texas A&M's way is one final 40-minute stretch. Both teams are tired and worn down, but the crown jewel at the end of the road is worth the pain and effort to "give it a go" one final time.

If Gary Blair's Aggies can find a way to complete the task and knock off Notre Dame, it would go down as one of the greatest program turnarounds in the history of women's sports.

Eight years ago -- on March 31, 2003 to be exact -- Gary Blair officially replaced Peggy Gillom as head coach of the Aggie women's basketball team. This was the very first quote he gave upon leaving Arkansas and taking the A&M job.

"At this point in my career, I wasn't looking for a job, but sometimes a great job comes looking for you," Blair said. "There are not a lot of coaches that would leave a program that they've built into a top 25 [team], but I had a lot of reasons [for leaving]. Texas is my home state, and I've been familiar with Texas A&M for a long time. I know what kind of program A&M can be and I want to be the architect to get it done."

And get it done, he did.

After going 9-19 in year one, Blair brought in a signing class that would change the scope and direction of the program for years to come. Morenike Atunrase, A'Quonesia Franklin, Patrice Reado, Katy Pounds and Ashley Bolden had offers from other major college programs, but they took a chance on the Aggies. The diaper dandies jumped out of the gates as freshmen to lead A&M to the NWIT quarterfinals and a 16-15 overall record … the school's first winning season in nine years.

Bolden left after one season, but that transcendent group carried the program on their backs for four years, reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of their last three seasons and advancing to the Elite Eight as seniors in 2007-08.

After seven consecutive winning seasons and six straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, a new generation of star power -- led by Danielle Adams, Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter and Tyra White -- has helped the Aggies take that next step. And now, they're standing at the door and are one final mission away from reaching the ultimate goal … cutting down the nets as the last team standing and bringing the national championship trophy home to College Station.

If Texas A&M can dig deep one last time and find a way to defeat the Fighting Irish, it would do so much for the program but also the game of women's basketball. It would usher in "new blood" (as Gary Blair likes to put it) to the sport.

Women's basketball at the college level has been dominated by only a handful of teams in the 29 seasons that it has been in existence in the modern era (meaning … five-on-five, full-court basketball). In fact, only 13 teams have won a national title on the women's side during this 29-year stretch.

Tennessee has the most championships, eight, followed closely by Connecticut's seven titles. The remaining 14 are as follows: Louisiana Tech (two), Southern California (two), Stanford (two), Old Dominion (one), Texas (one), Texas Tech (one), North Carolina (one), Purdue (one), Notre Dame (one), Baylor (one) and Maryland (one).

But the difference is that none of those teams had to come from as far down as the Aggies have come to reach this point. It would be one of the greatest turnaround jobs in the history of women's college athletics. Sure, it took eight years to get here, but Blair and his outstanding coaching staff have gone about the entire process the right way. He's built this program with class every step of the way and has gradually turned Aggie women's hoops into a super power in the sport.

Now, beating the Fighting Irish will not be easy. They're streaking into the NCAA Tournament Finals after knocking off top-ranked UConn, 72-63 in the national semifinals. And like A&M did a week ago against Baylor, Notre Dame was able to avenge a three-defeat season to the Huskies when it mattered most.

The Irish are led by super sophomore Skyler Diggins … a local kid from South Bend, Indiana. She averages 14.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Diggins makes 43.4 percent of her shots and is shooting 34.0 percent from three-point range.

Fellow sharpshooter Natalie Novosel leads the team in scoring, with 15.1 points per game. She also averages 4.0 rebounds and shoots 41.9 percent on threes.

Notre Dame's lone true inside scoring presence is Devereaux Peters, who comes into the national final with an 11.7 points-per-game average to go along with a team leading 7.4 rebounding mark.

On paper, it looks to be a very evenly-matched contest and it will be a matter of which team wants it more and which team does the best job of staying calm and playing within itself.

Win or lose … one thing cannot be denied: Texas A&M women's basketball fever has hit Aggieland in a mighty way over the past few weeks and this special group has represented itself and its university in a way that should make every Aggie out there well up inside with pride.

And now, Gary Blair has the team in maroon and white is one final step away from breaking through that door at which they're standing. And the prize waiting for them on the other side is something that many thought could never be done in College Station. Blair has been there as an assistant and now it's his time to shine.

Again … the reward is there for the taking. Colson, Carter, White, Elonu, Adams and the rest of the gang just have to put together another 40 minutes of intense defense and sound offensive execution against another very good basketball team. But despite their doubters across the nation, Blair's squad has not allowed anything to slow them down yet.

Why stop now?