Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame: Championship Game Thread

[Thompson]

"All I can say is I'm watching the Womens final for and Congrats to Texas A&M. And Tyra White is a beast I like her game...."
http://twitter.com/george_hill3

A&M is ranked higher than Notre Dame in the AP poll, and lower in the USA Today poll. Odds anyone? Hopefully the Aggies secure the championship on Tuesday. Gig 'Em.

[Sisk]

I'd bet Notre Dame is favored since they just beat UConn. It'll be a really interesting game Tuesday. Might see a case of Notre Dame looking at UConn as their 'ship and have already blown their load.. lol. I hope that's the case. I also hope my geography professor tomorrow hooks us up since she's obsessed with women's basketball.

[BRHornet45]

sons I can't believe that fluke Notre Dame just pulled on UCONN ... say what you want and yes I know Notre Dame played well tonight and deserved to win tonight, but it was a fluke.

[Thompson]

sons I can't believe that fluke Notre Dame just pulled on UCONN ... say what you want and yes I know Notre Dame played well tonight and deserved to win tonight, but it was a fluke.

I hope you're right. Aren't you pulling for Notre Dame though, as a Diana Turasi fan?

[BRHornet45]

I hope you're right.

son A&M has a damn good shot at winning the entire thing now that both UCONN and Stanford are out of the way. I'm still shocked that UCONN got dropped. you realize that is a team that is 114-1 over the last 3 years up until tonight? I don't care what sport you're talking about, that is just amazing.

All A&M has to do is show up like they did tonight (in the second half that is) and they have a good shot.

[BRHornet45]

Aren't you pulling for Notre Dame though, as a Diana Turasi fan?

son its Taurasi aka The Best to EVER do it aka The Queen

[DesignatedT]

Yeah, both teams are pretty evenly matched in the polls but Notre Dame should be around a 3 pt favorite because of where the game is being played IMO. They will have a huge home court advantage playing in Indianapolis and it was a big reason they beat UConn. The official spread should be released tomorrow though.

When initially looking at the bracket I didn't see us getting past Baylor and the same went for Stanford. I feel a lot more confident against ND then UConn though although the home court will be a factor.

[DMX7]

BR, I thought you were over her when you discovered she is a clam licker. Didn't you personally verify this?

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

I also hope my geography professor tomorrow hooks us up since she's obsessed with women's basketball.

:lol Same with my art history teacher

[Sisk]

:lol Same with my art history teacher

Current student?

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=214765621871798&index=1

tbh.

Let's hope they hook us up :lol

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

Yep, but I doubt mine will let us off the hook

[DesignatedT]

Official spread is Notre Dame - 2.5

[LakerHater]

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/ap/ac/fullj.84710793836acdfb50210adbc47ff7d6/ap-f9e7977b1bbd43fa99920ed9fbaef622.jpg

[Thompson]

Championship! Whoop!

[Blake]

a women's bball title each decade

UT - 1986
Tech -1993
Baylor -2005
A&M - 2011

I know, fuckin awesome.

[The Reckoning]

congrats to the aggies! now you can be a proud women's basketball school.

[FoxPerez]

What an entertaining game. As a Texas fan, I haven't been that into an A&M sporting event that much in a while. Congrats to the Aggies for not just winning, but playing a good quality game worth watching. So many friends I have were saying that they wished the men's final had been that good.

[Obstructed_View]

Nice to see Danielle Adams finally get going in a big game. Couldn't have picked a better time to do it. Congrats to the Lady Ags.

[Fpoonsie]

Proud of the Lady Ags, but still have no desire to watch women's ball.

[Jimcs50]

Lady Ags show huge heart in both games. Each game, they could have easily caved in when times got tough, but in both the came through with flying colors. That 3 by White as shot clock expired with Diggins in her grille, was one of the most clutch shots in championship game history. :toast

[FoxPerez]

Originally posted at PlaymakerOnline.com (http://bit.ly/f1LPHQ):

When her team needed her the most, Danielle Adams stepped up with a legendary performance that will be forever remembered in Aggie basketball history. In her final game, the senior and Most Outstanding Player carried Texas A&M in the 2nd half with 22 points to cap off a game-high 30 and lead the Aggies to their first ever national championship in women’s basketball.

This wasn’t the way A&M had won any previous game in the tournament. Notre Dame outscored the Aggies in the paint, won the turnover battle, shot better than 46% and got to the line more often.

But when A&M failed to put the clamps down on defense, the offense carried them. Adams was a monster in the paint and Tyra White nailed a dagger three-pointer as the shot clock ran down with a little over a minute left to suck the air out of a building mostly filled with Fighting Irish fans rooting for Notre Dame in their home state of Indianapolis.

White was as key to A&M’s success as Adams. Both played nearly 80 minutes combined and White was incredibly efficient with her offense, going 7-9 from the field.

The only time the Aggies appeared rattled was in the final minute. After taking a five-point lead on White’s buzzer-beater, the A&M turned the ball over twice in 15 seconds keeping the Aggies from pulling away in the final minute. But A&M was able to grab the loose balls, play solid defense and make their free throws to bring the championship home. But, in all honesty, in watching the game there was little that A&M did to shake the confidence of any fans that they were going to win the game.

So much of that credit goes to Gary Blair, who has championship experience but never as a head coach until last night. Rarely does he appear to ever raise his voice. His calming influence clearly had an effect on the team down the stretch as they never panicked and stuck to the game plan on both sides of the floor.

The championship signifies a new era in Big 12 and Texas women’s basketball. Kim Mulkey and now Blair have taken programs from irrelevant to national champions in a relatively short amount of time. The two programs met two times during the regular season and another two in the postseason. Only a couple of key players from each team are graduating, so each matchup next year is going to be a must-watch game. With the history backing the Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Big 12 could emerge as an elite women’s basketball conference in a way that the league’s history has never seen.

And speaking of the Longhorns, I got a surprising reaction from Texas Exes that are friends of mine after the Aggies won the national championship last night. Some of them supported Texas A&M on this run to the title (with the exception of any games against the Longhorns, of course). But a few not only refused to cheer and celebrate the A&M victory, they called out those that did.

So on Thursday, check back here at PlaymakerOnline.com as I address my personal experiences and opinions of Aggies and Longhorns rooting for each other, a concept that I didn’t think would be so controversial.

For more college sports coverage, check out PlaymakerOnline.com (http://www.playmakeronline.com/)
Playmaker Magazine: The Source for Sports in Texas

[The Gemini Method]

Congrats! :toast

That Adams had a helluva game last night...I'd thought I'd never say this: But this game was more exciting than the UConn vs Butler snoozefest...

[baseline bum]

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/ap/ac/fullj.84710793836acdfb50210adbc47ff7d6/ap-f9e7977b1bbd43fa99920ed9fbaef622.jpg

What position does she play?

[Marklar MM]

so...did anyone actually watch this game. I had no idea it was even on.

[Sisk]

so...did anyone actually watch this game. I had no idea it was even on.

Nope not one person did.

[Marklar MM]

Nope not one person did.

thats what I thought. No one went to the game either from the videos iv'e seen.

[MajorMike]

son its Taurasi aka The Best to EVER do it aka The Queen

This the first sane thing I've ever seen you say.