Texas A & M reaches first Final Four

Sydney Carter 22 points and Texas A & M finally beat Baylor - when it counted the most.

The Aggies are going to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history after a 58-46 victory over the top-seeded Lady Bears last night in the Dallas Regional final.

Baylor and All-America Brittney Griner, who played in the Final Four last year in the 6-8 center's freshman season, will have to settle for the Big 12 regular season and tournament trophies the still-young Bears (34-3) already won this season.

Texas A & M (31-5) had lost eight straight games against its Big 12 rival, including three this season.

The Aggies blew a nine-point lead midway through the second half in Waco last month. They squandered a 12-0 start in the Big 12 championship game just more than 3 weeks ago.

This time, coach Gary Blair's team led from start to finish after Carter had a three-pointer, an assist and a jumper in the game's first 2 minutes for a 7-0 lead.

"Tonight was our night, we didn't back into it," Blair said. "We won the game fair and square."

Sydney Colson added 12 points for Texas A & M, including some important scores after two free throws by Griner had gotten Baylor within 48-41 with 4 1/2 minutes left.

Colson blew by Griner and missed, but was fouled and made both free throws. Right after that, Colson had a steal and took it all the way for a layup and was fouled again. With the A & M bench going wild, and the stunned Baylor players sitting and staring ahead, Colson finished the three-point play to make it 53-41.

Griner, coming off a 40-point game Sunday against Wisconsin-Green Bay after scoring 30 the game before that, had 20 points and nine rebounds. But she struggled all night shooting, making only six of 18 from the field, including a missed dunk attempt. After making all 10 free throw attempts Sunday, she was 8-for-15 against the Aggies.

Melissa Jones, the only senior who played significant minutes for Baylor, scored 13 points and had seven rebounds.

Tyra White had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies. Adaora Elonu had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Danielle Adams, the Aggies' All-America post player and their leading scorer, finished with six points in her last chance to reach a Final Four. She entered the game averaging 22.7 points a game and was shooting 49 percent from the field for the season.

The Aggies play Stanford (33-2), another top-seeded team, on Sunday in the national semifinal.

* Connecticut star Maya Moore became only the second four-time All-America when she was honored by the Associated Press.

She was joined on the team by Baylor's Brittney Griner, Stanford's Jeanette Pohlen, Texas A & M's Danielle Adams and Ohio State's Jantel Lavender.

Moore received 195 points and was a unanimous choice by the 39-member national media panel that votes in the weekly Top 25. Voting was done before the NCAA Tournament.

It's the third straight year that Moore was a unanimous choice.

Griner, a second-team All-America last season, helped Baylor win the Big 12 championship for the first time in 6 years. The sensational 6-8 sophomore changes the game on both ends of the floor with her ability to alter shots and to finish on offense.

The second team consisted of Oklahoma senior Danielle Robinson, Xavier senior Amber Harris, Gonzaga senior Courtney Vandersloot, Stanford junior Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Duke senior Jasmine Thomas. The third team was Tennessee junior Shekinna Stricklen, Miami junior Shenise Johnson, Kentucky senior Victoria Dunlap, Xavier senior Ta'Shia Phillips and Notre Dame sophomore Skylar Diggins. *