Led by its trio of star sophomores, the 3-seed Texas A&M basketball team defeated the 11-seed James Madison Dukes 85-69 before a rowdy Tuesday night crowd of 7,095 at Reed Arena.
The second-round victory grants the Aggies a pass to the Sweet 16, where they will face 7-seed Depaul in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday. This is the sixth time an A&M team has advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament third round.
Sophomore Jordan Jones, who broke the school’s single season assists record Sunday, dished out 16 assists and added nine points. Jones now has 253 assists for the 2013-14 season.
“This team really thrives on transition,” Jones said. “Once we get to pushing transition it really gives us the look that we want out of secondary – and then eventually setting up our offense.”
Courtney Williams led all players with 23 points. The sophomore has now scored double-digit points in 11 straight games and 29 overall this year.
“I just tried to take what the defense gave me and find the open layups,” Williams said. “When I did get the ball in transition, I just tried to find my teammates also because I’m not a selfish player.”
Sophomore guard Courtney Walker added 18 points of her own as well as seven rebounds and two steals.
Playing in her final home game, senior center Karla Gilbert – a graduate of A&M Consolidated High School – scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. Gilbert also added two blocks Sunday, adding to her school single season record and giving her 64 on the year.
“She’s got the heart of gold,” head coach Gary Blair said of Gilbert. “Nothing rattles her. This is why she’s going to be one of the best teachers – because you have to have patience to be a great teacher. I just love that kid to death and she takes control of our team. She’s the mama of our team. I’m proud to say I was her coach.”
The Dukes came out of the gate shooting 5-for-9 from the field and jumped to a 10-6 lead over the Aggies. A&M trailed for more than 10 minutes and by as many as six points before a layup by Gilbert gave the Aggies a 24-22 advantage.
A jumper by Williams with 7:59 to go in the first half gave A&M a lead that it would not surrender again.
The Aggies came out of the locker room in the second half, and after one miss made four straight shots to build on their four-point halftime lead.
Foul trouble doomed the Dukes in the second half when star senior guard Kirby Burkholder – who had 28 points and 18 rebounds in JMU’s upset victory over 5-seed Gonzaga Sunday – was forced to sit on the bench due to her four fouls.
Burkholder had a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, but her collegiate basketball career ended when she fouled out with just under two minutes to go. JMU wound up with 27 fouls called against them, leading to 37 free throw attempts for the Aggies.
A&M shot 50 percent from the field as a team and held JMU to 37 percent on its shots.
“Maybe we’ve got one of those magical teams this year,” Blair said. “Who knows? We’re just taking this one game [at a time]. We’re ready for DePaul. Bring on the Blue Demons.”