A&M's season ends with second round loss to Florida State

It’s never easy to say goodbye.

On Monday night, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team saw their season come to an end at the hands of the Florida State Seminoles, 74-56, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The loss also marks the end of the careers of Courtney Walker, Jordan Jones, Courtney Williams, Chelsea Jennings and Rachel Mitchell – a senior class that goes out with a career record of 97-39 and numerous individual accolades.

The Aggies end the season with a 22-10 record while the fifth-seeded Seminoles (25-7) advance to the Sweet Sixteen to face the top-seeded Baylor Bears on Saturday.

“I kept thinking of the men’s game,” said Blair. “We cut it down to 10 and we still had two minutes to go and I was trying to tell our kids that it can be done. Give Florida State a lot of kudos, the difference was their veteran guards at the end of the game knew how to take care of the ball.”

From the start Florida State jumped on the Aggies and used four first quarter three-pointers and solid defense on A&M’s guards to take a 27-16 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Seminoles’ ability to connect from outside allowed Florida State center Adut Bulgak to go to work inside in the second quarter as the senior from Edmonton, Canada scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds in the period.

In total, Bulgak led the Seminoles in both categories, registering 18 points and 13 boards on the night. That performance allowed Florida State to take a 47-26 lead into the locker room at the half.

“Rebounding is what we do, so that was an automatic advantage for us,” said Bulgak. “Yeah, some shots weren’t falling, but for the most part if you put the ball up, you’re going to go get the rebound.”

To start the second half, the Aggies put together a 7-2 run as they scored on their first three possession of the third quarter and cut the lead down to 16. But by the end of the third, no progress had been made as Florida State closed the period with back-to-back baskets to keep their lead at 21.

“We took a pretty good butt chewing and we came back and responded like Aggies do,” said Blair. “We got it down to (16), and I think if we could have kept it between (16) and 12 going into the fourth we had a great chance, but they got it right back to 21.”

Drawing on the improbable comeback made by the Texas A&M men’s team in their second round victory over Northern Iowa on Sunday, the Aggies showed their never-say-die attitude in the fourth and trimmed the Florida State lead down to as few as 10 with 2:06 remaining in the game.

But unlike the men, the hole was too deep and Florida State was too good down the stretch to allow a second improbable comeback in as many days for the Aggies.

“My team did not give up at half,” said Blair. “The last quarter we held them to 2-of-15 shooting and we were scoring a few baskets. But you’ve got to score on every possession on the way back.”

Though her career came to an end, Walker scored 18 points and broke the A&M career scoring record previously held by Takia Starks in the loss. The Oklahoma native finishes her career with 1,989 points and all-time A&M records in points, 20-point games, field goals made and free throw percentage.

Additionally, Jones finished her A&M career in third place on A&M’s all-time assist list with 708 dimes and Mitchell finished with 116 career blocks, good for fifth place on A&M’s all-time blocks list.

“The senior class, the expectations, when you have to come in and live up to a national championship team, it’s hard to live up to that,” said Blair. “Each year, it hurts when they graduate and leave, particularly at the point guard position, that’s everything to me. Give those kids kudos, they’re all special and we’re going to miss them.”

After the game, an emotional Jones summed up what her four years in Aggieland have meant to her.

“It’s meant a lot,” said Jones. “It’s been more than just basketball. It’s a family. It’s a friendship. I don’t know about many other teams, but this team, we’re going to be lifelong friends and lifelong family. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the seniors in this class.

“I just thank everybody at A&M for the opportunity to be able to wear this jersey and wear No. 24 for this program. It’s been an honor.”