#2 Texas A&M University vs. #7 Gonzaga University
Time: 6:40 PM PST
TV: ESPN2
Internet: ESPN360
Both Gonzaga University and Texas A&M University coaches said that Saturday night's first round matchup between Gonzaga and the University of North Carolina was a fun game to be involved in.
Tonight's game between one of the top teams in the country and among the top point guards in the country should be another great game.
In addition to the great game that most people expect, there will be a couple of WNBA prospects, perhaps a fringe prospect, a definite prospect for next year, and two of the more entertaining coaches in the nation should make this one a great atmosphere.
Key players, relevant links, after the jump, live updates will appear in the comments.
Keys to the game:
Both of these teams like to run and get out in transition, both teams have a number of players able to score, and both shoot the ball relatively well.
A big difference is that Gonzaga likes to shoot the three ball a bit more -- just under 100 more attempts during the season -- and they have this point guard you may have heard of: Courtney Vandersloot. Against North Carolina on Saturday night, that three point shooting made the difference as Tiffanie Shives got hot and created the separation they needed.
For Texas A&M, they not only like to pressure, but coach Gary Blair is going to constantly change their defensive looks to keep opponents off balance. As Portland State coach Murrell said, everytime they took a timeout to adjust, he came with something different.
Players to watch:
Gonzaga point guard Courtney Vandersloot and Texas A&M wing Tanisha Smith are described below.
Links:
Why Gonzaga vs. Texas A&M is Must-See TV: The Intangible Leadership of Smith & Vandersloot
Northwest Madness Begins: Swish Appeal Live Blogging at Seattle Sub-Regional
Gonzaga, North Carolina Epitomize the Contrasts That Make March Madness Great
Sacramento Bracket Preview: Could Texas A&M Pressure Stop Stanford?
0 recs | 11 comments
16-12 Gonzaga with 11:59 left
The game is definitely off to the fast start we might have expected.
Vandersloot is directing the Gonzaga break masterfully and had three assists quickly in the first three minutes.
TAMU looks a little frustrated on offense shooting 3-10 with 3 turnovers early…
The main problem seems to be handling Gonzaga’s doubles on the wing…when guards get the ball near the sideline, Gonzaga.
Tanisha Smith looks like she’s feeling the jumper from the free throw line thus far, but her shots have come off of breakdowns… will be interesting to see if they look to hear more deliberately to generate more offense.
Texas A&M guards are not handling pressure particularly well…so that will have to change…
Great atmosphere, especially with the bands into it..
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
28-23 Gonzaga with 7:29 left
Just when it looked like Gonzaga would pull away with a double digit lead, TAMU’s Sydney Colson — definitely a key player for them off the bench — stepped up the defensive pressure, forcing two straight steals and a mishandle on Vandersloot.
Gonzaga has maintained the lead with some great interior and high-low passes from forward Vivian Frieson.
A fast-paced, but somewhat ragged game thus far… the first backcourt that can put a string of 5 minutes without a turnover might take control of this one…
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
34-29 Gonzaga with 3:59
Nerves maybe?
On one 30 second sequence, Assarian committed an offensive foul on a screen for T. Smith, Gonzaga turned it right back over, and then while trying to make a play in transition Tyra White double dribbled…
But after a 3-10 start, TAMU is now shooting 13-26 and a large part of that is Danielle Adams who has come off the bench to score 6 high percentage buckets inside…
After her hot passing start, Vandersloot is caught the turnover bug and is now on the bench..
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
42-31 Gonzaga at half
If you didn’t believe that the homecourt advantage wouldn’t mean anything, the end of the first half should disprove that…
After Frieson made a long jumper off of a Vandersloot pass, the crowd went nuts.
After a block on the other end, the crowd got to near defeaning…
Overall, the turnovers probably tell the story of the first half — TAMU had 13, Gonzaga had 10.
Strangely, Gonzaga has maintained the lead the whole half despite Vandersloot having another “awful” first half against TAMU in a repeat of their December matchup in Vegas — she had 6 turnovers in the opening session.
You can tell both teams can play, but so far, Gonzaga has done a bit better job of getting some high percentage shots…
It’s hard to say what Texas A&M should do in this game other than simply to stop dribbling the ball off their feet, out of bounds, and into Gonzaga defenders…
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
Second half underway and Blair picks up a quick Tech...
While I don’t agree with his actions, I understand.
Adams, who’s starting the second half, was clobbered on a transition layup and the refs missed it…
30 game seconds later, Adams makes the layup and refs call the foul.
Apparently, the point was taken… and Blair was right on the court waiting for the whistle…
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
Tied at 52-52 with 11:30 left
The combination of Adams inside and Colson wreaking havoc on the perimeter defensively has closed the gap…
Colson is a one woman press and her pressure has resulted in three consecutive fast break layups…
After getting shaken up on a blocked fast break layup attempt, she got up and got consecutive steal….
With a three pointer from the wing by Tanisha Smith off an assist from Colson — the Aggies finally took a 52-50 lead with just under 12 minutes to go..
The Aggies haven’t gotten much from Smith yet, but if their quiet leader gets going, it could turn the tide here quickly…
Gonzaga just got a short jumper in the paint plus the foul which led the Gonzaga crowd to erupt…Standish missed the free throw attempt
This turned from an exciting but sloppy game to a steep crescendo of excitement…
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
57-56 with 7:06 left
Yeah, a score of 5-4 over the last four minutes means there hasn’t been much scoring, but Smith and Vandersloot are starting to look for points of their own instead of deferring…
They each made driving layups early in the offense, getting a step on their defender and just going to the rim…
Frieson is still having a strong game on both ends with 15 points on 5-11 shooting… and a number of blocks…
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
Wow... Zags into the Sweet Sixteen for first time with 72-71 win
This is probably not the best time for analysis, but that was an absolutely amazing game and not at all in the way one might have thought…
It was a scrappy, sloppy, grudge match for most of the way and it came down to senior Vivian Frieson stepping up with a huge fadeaway jumper with 12.8 seconds left…
If you’re looking for the big difference in this game, why not crowd support? Gonzaga fans were out in force and everytime something big down the stretch occurred, you could feel their energy.
You almost hate for a game to end when it really didn’t reach greatness until the 13 minute mark.. but what an amazing experience to be here…
I can’t hear what the Krista Blunk is asking Vivian Frieson… but what can you say about her performance? Absolutely amazing on a night when Vandersloot really struggled to get it going…
Nate Parham - March 22, 2010
Watching TAMU come into the press room after the game was tough...
Anytime you watch — or play a game — that is lost on a last shot, it’s just so hard…
Still on media row now, the section of the stands behind the Gonzaga bench is still filled with fans cheering the Gonzaga players as they leave the locker room…
Words are never adequate to describe the feeling of being at a game like this, but it was a simply amazing atmosphere. For Gonzaga to go to the Sweet 16 for the first time with that kind of crowd support is definitely special.
Frieson made the corny statement, “How sweet it is” in the presser, but I think you can probably forgive her given the moment..
More to come on this game and the Seattle sub-regional over the coming days… but if you needed a reason to watch the Sweet 16 for some reason, this should be it…
Nate Parham - March 23, 2010
Oh, biggest cheer of course for Frieson who is walking out now with that characteristic swagger...
Frieson was not on the WNBA’s list of potential draft prospects and coach mentioned her being well suited as a coach, but when you see a player who plays that hard — despite being undersized — it has to be hard to just completely ignore…
Another strong performance against top talent and you have to figure that people will take some notice…
Hmmm… Coach Blair mentioned that he was a journalism minor and newspapers — on paper — are the American way… and here I and others sit blogging and tweeting about it before the newspapers get a chance…problem? I don’t think so…the more the better… for a sport that appears to be growing rapidly…
Nate Parham - March 23, 2010
Statistical summary
Coach Blair mentioned that free throws were the problem for the Aggies this game…and that bears itself out statistically…
Although Gonzaga was beat relatively badly on the offensive boards 36.59% to 29.73%, the free throw battle was arguably the most significant difference in this game: Gonzaga 30.51%, TAMU 22.73%.
Surprisingly, after a sloppy first half, the teams ended up near even in the turnover percentage battle.
From the “Duh.” department: Frieson was the statistical MVP but the stats tell us just how good she was: the senior, who said she didn’t want to go home, was responsible for nearly 45% of the team’s total valuable contributions. When thinking about that strength of free throw shooting, Frieson was the won who led the way in that effort shooting 6-8 from the free throw line and finishing with a free throw rate of 57.14%…
Gonzaga players and coach Graves will continue to maintain that the team won without Vandersloot because they’re versatile and deep, but statistically, it required a superwoman effort from Frieson – not only on the last shot — to bring the game home. Like Graves said, if you watch her play, it’s hard not to give her perform and look at what she’s done on college basketball’s biggest stage, it’s hard not to give her some WNBA consideration.
Nate Parham - March 23, 2010
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