Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball
Encyclopedia
The Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team represents Texas A&M University
in NCAA Division I women's basketball
. The team has been coached by Gary Blair
since 2003. The Aggies play home games at Reed Arena
, a 12,500-capacity arena in College Station
, Texas
on the campus of Texas A&M.
The Aggies are the current NCAA Division I national champions. They beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 76-70. They have appeared in the NCAA Tournament
eight times and garnered four conference championships.
. In 1995, they won the WNIT
championship. In 1996, they were the SWC Champions and went to the First Round of the NCAA tournament. Since then, the team had not achieved much notable postseason success until the hiring of Gary Blair
before the 2003–04 season. In the 2004–05 season, Blair took his team to the WNIT
quarterfinals. In the 2005–06 season, the team advanced to the NCAA First Round
. In the 2006–07 season, the team won the Big 12 regular season championship, and advanced to the NCAA Second Round
. The 2007–08 team finished 8th in the AP Poll
, the highest in team history. It also received the highest seed in the NCAA tournament out of all five appearances, and finished in the Elite Eight. On March 29, 2011, Texas A&M defeated Baylor to advance to the program's first ever Final Four appearance.
At the Final Four, the Aggies defeated Stanford
63-62 and Notre Dame
76-70 to win their first national championship. Gary Blair
became the first male coach other than Connecticut
's Geno Auriemma
to win a women's basketball national championship since Leon Barmore
led Louisiana Tech to the 1988 championship.
NCAA tournament;
final year for AIAW tournament
‡ A&M starts
Southwest Conference play
# A&M leaves SWC;
starts Big 12 play.
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in NCAA Division I women's basketball
Women's basketball
Women's basketball is one of the few women's sports that developed in tandem with its men's counterpart. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast , in large part via women's colleges...
. The team has been coached by Gary Blair
Gary Blair
Gary Claude Blair is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team. In his 26 years as a collegiate head coach, Blair has only suffered one losing season, and has reached postseason play 22 times, including 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2 Final Four appearances in 1998...
since 2003. The Aggies play home games at Reed Arena
Reed Arena
Reed Arena is a sports arena and entertainment venue located at the corner of Olsen Boulevard and Kimbrough Boulevard in College Station, Texas. This facility is used for Texas A&M University basketball games and commencement ceremonies, concerts, trade shows, family entertainment, and Texas A&M...
, a 12,500-capacity arena in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
on the campus of Texas A&M.
The Aggies are the current NCAA Division I national champions. They beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 76-70. They have appeared in the NCAA Tournament
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season...
eight times and garnered four conference championships.
History
Women's basketball at Texas A&M debuted in the 1974–75 season. The program had not reached the postseason tournament until 1994, when it went to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournamentNCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season...
. In 1995, they won the WNIT
Women's National Invitation Tournament
The Women's National Invitation Tournament , formerly the National Women's Invitation Tournament, is a college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year...
championship. In 1996, they were the SWC Champions and went to the First Round of the NCAA tournament. Since then, the team had not achieved much notable postseason success until the hiring of Gary Blair
Gary Blair
Gary Claude Blair is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team. In his 26 years as a collegiate head coach, Blair has only suffered one losing season, and has reached postseason play 22 times, including 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2 Final Four appearances in 1998...
before the 2003–04 season. In the 2004–05 season, Blair took his team to the WNIT
Women's National Invitation Tournament
The Women's National Invitation Tournament , formerly the National Women's Invitation Tournament, is a college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year...
quarterfinals. In the 2005–06 season, the team advanced to the NCAA First Round
2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
-Albuquerque:-Bridgeport:-San Antonio:-Cleveland Regional:-Albuquerque Regional:-Bridgeport Regional:-San Antonio Regional:-Final Four – TD Banknorth Garden :...
. In the 2006–07 season, the team won the Big 12 regular season championship, and advanced to the NCAA Second Round
2007 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2007 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament began on March 17, 2007 and concluded on April 3 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The Final Four consisted of Tennessee, LSU, Rutgers, and North Carolina, with Tennessee defeating Rutgers 59-46 for their seventh National Title...
. The 2007–08 team finished 8th in the AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
, the highest in team history. It also received the highest seed in the NCAA tournament out of all five appearances, and finished in the Elite Eight. On March 29, 2011, Texas A&M defeated Baylor to advance to the program's first ever Final Four appearance.
At the Final Four, the Aggies defeated Stanford
Stanford Cardinal women's basketball
The Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represents Stanford University, located in Stanford, California. The school's team currently competes in the Pacific-12 Conference and are coached by Tara VanDerveer, in her 25th season with the Cardinal...
63-62 and Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. The program competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. They have one NCAA National Championship. They play their...
76-70 to win their first national championship. Gary Blair
Gary Blair
Gary Claude Blair is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team. In his 26 years as a collegiate head coach, Blair has only suffered one losing season, and has reached postseason play 22 times, including 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2 Final Four appearances in 1998...
became the first male coach other than Connecticut
Connecticut Huskies women's basketball
The Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team represents the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut in NCAA women's basketball competition. Under head coach Geno Auriemma, the Huskies have won 7 NCAA Division I national championships, advanced to 12 Final Fours, and won over 30 Big...
's Geno Auriemma
Geno Auriemma
Luigi "Geno" Auriemma is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, which he has led to seven National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I national championships...
to win a women's basketball national championship since Leon Barmore
Leon Barmore
Leon Barmore is a college women's basketball coach. He coached at Louisiana Tech University from 1982 to 2002, serving the first three years as co-head coach with Sonja Hogg, who had begun the program in 1974 at the invitation of university president F. Jay Taylor...
led Louisiana Tech to the 1988 championship.
Notable former players
| Name | Career at Texas A&M | Notability | Year drafted by WNBA | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danielle Adams Danielle Adams Danielle E. Adams is an American forward-center. She played college basketball at Texas A&M. She is the first Texas A&M player to be named an Associated Press first-team All-American. She also captured first team All-American honors from the WBCA... |
2009–11 | First first-team All-American in program's history | Current WNBA player for the San Antonio Silver Stars San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Silver Stars are a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; the team moved to San Antonio... |
2011 2011 WNBA Draft The 2011 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 11, 2011 at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut... |
|
| Sydney Colson Sydney Colson Sydney Colson is a basketball player who most recently played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association. She played college basketball at Texas A&M University, where she helped the Aggies win the NCAA title during her senior year.... |
2007-2011 | Ranks in top 10 in career assist | Current WNBA player for the New York Liberty New York Liberty The New York Liberty is a professional basketball team based in New York City, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was one of the eight original franchises of the league... |
2011 2011 WNBA Draft The 2011 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 11, 2011 at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut... |
|
| Morenike Atunrase Morenike Atunrase Morenike Olayinka Atunrase is an American basketball player who played for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars during the 2008 season. She was drafted in 2008 out of Texas A&M, where she played from 2004–08.-Early years:... |
2004–08 | Former WNBA player for the San Antonio Silver Stars San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Silver Stars are a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; the team moved to San Antonio... |
2008 2008 WNBA Draft The 2008 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 9, 2008.... |
||
| A'Quonesia Franklin A'Quonesia Franklin A'Quonesia Krashun Franklin , also known as Aqua, is an assistant coach for the Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball team. She played two seasons in the WNBA. She was a three-year captain of the Texas A&M team from the 2005–06 to 2007–08 seasons... |
2004–08 | Former WNBA player for the Sacramento Monarchs Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009... |
2008 2008 WNBA Draft The 2008 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 9, 2008.... |
||
| Danielle Gant Danielle Gant Danielle Nicole Gant is a women's college basketball guard/forward. She was drafted 16th overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2009 WNBA Draft... |
2005–09 | Ranks in the top 10 of many categories | TBD | ||
| Kelly Krauskopf | 1980–83 | Chief Operation Officer and General Manager for the Indiana Fever Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever is a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began... |
N/A | ||
| Jaynetta Saunders | 1999–01 | Former WNBA player for Phoenix Mercury Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises... |
2001 2001 WNBA Draft 2001 WNBA Draft - 20 April 2001*On April 20, 2001 the regular WNBA draft took place.-College draft:-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:... |
||
| Takia Starks Takia Starks Takia Nicole Starks is a shooting guard for the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League. She played college basketball at Texas A&M... |
2005–09 | All-time leading scorer in A&M history | TBD | ||
| Toccara Williams Toccara Williams Toccara Williams is a former basketball point guard who played for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars in the 2004 season. Prior to playing in the WNBA, she played college basketball at Texas A&M from 2000–04. She was then selected in the third round of the 2004 WNBA Draft.-External links:*... |
2000–04 | Former WNBA player for San Antonio Silver Stars San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Silver Stars are a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; the team moved to San Antonio... |
2004 2004 WNBA Draft 2004 WNBA Draft - 17 April 2004On January 6, 2004 a dispersal draft took place. Players were drafted from the roster of the Cleveland Rockers, who folded after the 2003 season.... |
Season-by-season results
† 1982: Inaugural year ofNCAA tournament;
final year for AIAW tournament
‡ A&M starts
Southwest Conference play
# A&M leaves SWC;
starts Big 12 play.