The Texas A&M women’s basketball team left Thursday for Lincoln, Neb., to take on 7-seed DePaul in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I Tournament.
The Aggies won their first two games of the tournament by more than 15 points each game.
A trio of sophomore stars – guards Jordan Jones and Courtney Walker and forward Courtney Williams – will lead head coach Gary Blair’s team into the third round.
Jones, A&M’s single-season assists record holder with 253, was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team and was Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the conference. She leads the team with 75 steals – 29 more than the next closest player. Jones leads all players with 13.5 assists per game so far in the tournament.
With double-digit scoring efforts in each of her last 11 games – and 29 overall this season – Walker has averaged a team-leading 15.3 points per game and has scored 22 points per game in A&M’s four postseason matchups.
After being selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team last season, Walker was named All-SEC First Team for the 2013-14 season.
Williams, the Aggies second leading scorer, was named Second Team All-SEC earlier this year. She led all players with 23 points in A&M’s 85-69 victory over James Madison
on Tuesday.
Senior center Karla Gilbert – one of two remaining players from the 2011 National Championship team – played her last game at Reed Arena on Tuesday. The College Station native set the school’s single-season blocks record this year, with 66 so far this season.
DePaul has not had an easy road to the Sweet 16. In the first round, the Blue Demons outlasted 10-seed Oklahoma, 104-100. The 2-seed Duke Blue Devils were upset by DePaul on Monday when the Blue Demons won 74-65 to advance to the third round of the tournament.
DePaul’s win over Duke marked head coach Doug Bruno’s 600th career victory.
Saturday’s 7 p.m. matchup will be broadcast on ESPN. The winner will advance to the Elite Eight and face either Connecticut or Brigham Young on March 31.