For the third time since 2008, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team will play in the NCAA Elite Eight – this time against the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies.
The Aggies (27-8, 13-3 SEC) are set to tip off in the Lincoln regional finals on Monday night. The winner will earn a ticket to the Final Four in Nashville, Tenn.
UConn (37-0, 18-0 AAC) defeated BYU 71-52 in its last outing, earning the Huskies their ninth-straight Elite Eight appearance. Junior forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who comes off back-to-back triple-double and double-double performances against St. Joseph’s and BYU, has led UConn throughout the tournament. Mosqueda-Lewis has averaged 15.5 points per game as well as 7.3 rebounds over the Huskies’ last seven games – a stretch where she has logged three of her season total four double-doubles.
The Aggies also will be tasked with stopping sophomore UConn standout Breanna Stewart. Stewart leads the Huskies in scoring with 19.6 points per game on a squad with five players averaging in the double digits. At 6-foot-4, Stewart leads the Huskies in offensive rebounding and blocked shots.
A&M is 0-2 all-time against UConn, but the Aggies are confident that they’re playing their best basketball of the season entering the contest.
“If we follow our game plan, play hard and not worry about the fact it says UConn on their jersey, we’ll be fine,” said sophomore point guard Jordan Jones. “So many get caught up in the hype of it being UConn. It’s that mental aspect of it.”
The Aggies enter the matchup riding off an 84-65 rout of DePaul in the Sweet 16. A&M shot a season-high 60 percent from the field against the Blue Demons, marking the Aggies’ best ever performance in an NCAA tournament game.
The Aggies held the Blue Demons to a season-low 65 points, while every A&M starter scored in double figures.
“Yes, we can score points,” said head coach Gary Blair, “but we can defend, too.”
Sophomore guard Courtney Walker scored 25 points against DePaul and extended her streak of double-digit scoring to 12 games. Walker said she and the rest of the team will have to continue to elevate their play if they hope to keep their national championship hopes alive.
“The competition goes up,” Walker said. “Your play has to go up.”
The 3-seed Aggies will battle the 1-seed Huskies at 8:30 p.m. live on ESPN.