Neither UConn nor Stanford, top seeds and perennial powerhouses, will be in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game Tuesday night. Texas A&M and Notre Dame will. What a stunning development for NCAA women’s basketball.
Second-seeded Texas A&M stunned Stanford, 63-62, on a layup by Tyra White with 3.3 seconds to play, lifting the Aggies (32-5) to their first title game. Trailing by a point, Sydney Colson dribbled the length of the court and dished to White for the go-ahead layup.
Trailing by 10 points, Texas A&M mounted a furious rally that included an 8-0 run.
“This is what women’s basketball needs,” said Aggies head coach Gary Blair. “It needs regional final games and semifinal games and final games like this to be able to sometimes wake up America, to be able to give us credit when credit is due.”
Notre Dame got 28 points Skylar Diggins and held off a late UConn rally. The Fighting Irish led by 12 before UConn closed within three points late in the game. The Huskies could get no closer, however.