Women’s Final Four 2011: Texas A&M Upsets Stanford By A Score Of 63-62 In Crazy Finish

Stanford, a No. 1 seed and extremely potent offensive team came into their national semifinal match against Texas A&M as heavy favorites. If you look at the shooting percentages in the box score, it’s already obvious why. A&M simply isn’t that potent of an offensive team, and Stanford can score at will. However, when you turn the ball over, your shooting percentage can quickly become irrelevant. Stanford learned the hard way, and they’re out of the 2011 Women’s Final Four after losing to Texas A&M by a score of 63-62 in an absolutely wild finish.

Texas A&M’s great defense and offensive deficiencies turned this into the kind of game that most people would classify as ugly and scrappy, and that’s if they’re nice and they feel like using euphemisms. However, the outstanding thing about formatting a tournament and a sport in the way that Division I college basketball is formatted allows for incredible drama, even if most of the game wasn’t that well played.

Stanford appeared to be in control late, before Sydney Carter hit a three-pointer for Texas A&M with 1:34 remaining, bringing the Aggies back within one point. Sydney Colson drew a foul and made both of her free throws on the next possession, giving the Aggies a one point lead. The same thing happened on the other end, and Nnemkadi Ogwumike made two free throws to put the Cardinal ahead by one point with 35 seconds remaining. Then, things got really crazy.

In a span of 15 seconds of game time, the teams traded three layups. Tyra White gave the lead back to the Aggies with 19 seconds left and Ogwumike responded instantly, giving the lead back to Stanford, causing the Aggies to call a timeout with 12 seconds remaining. They made the most of that timeout, and White was the hero again, matching Ogwumike with a tough layup with three seconds remaining to give the Aggies the lead. Colson stole the ensuing inbounds pass, and the Texas A&M players went crazy as the final horn sounded, giving them the 63-62 upset win.

The Aggies will face the winner of the UConn-Notre Dame semifinal on Tuesday night.