Texas A&M needed to conjure another magical comeback it mounted on Saturday against Penn when the Aggies found themselves in a deep hole in the second half against UCLA.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, that much-needed luck never came.
The Bruins (25-9) jumped ahead early and held firm to a commanding lead throughout the entire game, routing the Aggies (22-12) 75-43 in the second round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament Monday night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
“UCLA thoroughly outplayed us, just like Penn did for three quarters the other game,” A&M head coach Gary Blair said. “Were we out of gas? Was it our depth? None of that. Sometimes, compliment the team that won instead of finding out what’s wrong with the team that lost.”
With the loss, the Aggies’ season came to a close while the Bruins continue to dance to the Sweet 16 and will face almighty UConn and its 109-game winning streak next.
“I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of people that want to get on that plane and go to Bridgeport right now,” Blair said. “But I tell you what, they’ve earned that right. And that’s an honor to go up there and play Connecticut with that winning streak that they have.
Kari Korver led the Bruins on a fantastic night, scoring a game-high 21 points. All of Korver’s points came from three-pointers, going 7-of-10 from behind the arc.
“I would say in high school I’ve had some games where I was hot,” Korver said of her phenomenal performance. “I’ve had a few games in college but this was probably my hottest college game.”
A&M never pulled closer than 21 points in the second half, and the Bruins used an 18-2 run throughout the third and fourth quarters to build a game-high 37-point lead.
“I used a John Wooden comment before that I saw on a wall up there—‘Is it about the win or is it about the loss?’” Blair said. “Basically, it wasn’t about any of it. It’s about how did you put your best effort out there. We tried hard in the second half.”
Khaalia Hillsman, Danni Williams and Curtyce Knox combined for 30 of A&M’s 43 points, scoring 10 a piece.
The loss marked the end of Knox’s superb senior campaign, and her 304 assists this season is an A&M and SEC single-season record. Knox’s record numbers will likely help her finish the year as the nation’s leader in assists per game – ending the season with 8.9 per contest.
Knox, however, was held to a season-low one assist against the Bruins.
“Curtyce only got one assist in the ballgame. That’s her lowest of the whole year,” Blair said of Knox’s abnormal stat. “Why’d she get one assist? We shot 13 out of 50 and I didn’t have an inside game.”
A&M’s 43 points were also a season-low, as the Aggies were held to under 50 points for just the second time this year.
“My goal was for us to play our best basketball. Whether the score reflects it by 30 or by three, I don’t really care,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said. “But my goal is to lead my players to play their best when the best is needed. I’m thrilled we were able to have a dominant performance, but I’m much more interested in us playing our best when the best was needed.”
The Bruins came out the gates red hot, opening the game on a 9-2 run and never looked back. A&M closed the gap to six at 15-9 with 3:19 in the first quarter, but UCLA responded with a 12-0 run to rebuild its lead and took a 42-21 advantage into the intermission.
Things went well for the Bruins from downtown early on, as UCLA was 8-of-16 from behind the arc in the first half. On the other hand, A&M struggled on offense, going 9-of-30 (30 percent) from the field in the first twenty minutes.
“The execution of UCLA in the first half was more on their execution than on us,” Blair added. “Yes, we missed shots—13 out of 50 from our one through-four positions. Yesterday, we were 11-out-of-52 and won the ballgame.”
While A&M’s quest came to a close Monday evening, Blair was proud of the fight his squad gave – the team that was not expected to achieve.
Blair then emphasized the role of the three seniors – Knox, Taylor Cooper and Alyssa Michalke.
“These two seniors (Cooper and Knox) right here are very special,” Blair said. “All three of my seniors when I got my little walk-on (Alyssa Michalke) in at the end. They were special. They lived up to it.”