Thoughts on A&M's season-ending loss to Maryland

The A&M women's basketball team saw its defense of last year's national championship come to an end on Sunday with an 81-74 loss to Maryland in Sweet 16 action in Raleigh.

Thoughts on the loss

* I really, REALLY hate to say this, but A&M made some coaching mistakes in this basketball game that cost them a great deal. Skylar Collins was out there truly playing like it was her last game in the first half. With Tyra White having to sit out about 15 minutes of the first half because of foul trouble, Collins came off the bench and got it done on both ends of the floor. She scored 10 points and drained both of her three-point attempts. Collins has done a great job of coming off the bench and providing a spark throughout the post-season. But not giving Collins at least one minute in the second half was a huge reason why A&M is headed home, in my opinion.

I understand sticking with Tyra because she's a key piece to the national championship team, but Collins is better RIGHT NOW. Plain and simple. I would have at least split those two in the second half because Collins was hot from outside and A&M had trouble scoring over the zone. Collins had ZERO trouble scoring over the zone in the first half.

That move just really bothered me and I hate to see a senior who was playing so well have to sit on the bench and watch her team lose, knowing that she could have done something about it.

I love Blair and Co. and Gary and his staff might just be the best set of coaches on the A&M campus (arguable but they're certainly in the mix). So I feel bad for "calling them out," but I thought it was a huge mistake not playing Sky more in the second half of Arkansas and I feel the same way today.

* Not to go all Yoda on you guys, but offense … the Aggies had not down the stretch. Maryland closed the game exactly as it did to end the first half, putting the clamps down defensively, rebounding everything and getting easy baskets. The Terps ended things with a 21-4 run over the final 10 minutes to turn a 10-point deficit into a seven-point victory. A&M managed just two points in the final 7:55 of the game and did not score a single point in the last 3:50. That won't get it done against "Gumby Tech" most of the time … must less "Turtle U" and a defending championship program playing pretty close to home with a trip to the Elite 8 on the line. Horrible execution down the stretch … nearly impossible to win that way.

* The Aggies dominated in every facet early in the game and set a tremendous tone right out of the chute … going up, 12-2 through the first four minutes of the game. A&M totally controlled the game through the first 15 minutes, building an 18-point lead. During that tremendous opening stretch, A&M was able to get it done on the defensive end of the floor, leading to easy buckets on the other end. Vic Schaefer deserves a ton of credit for staying focused on the task at hand and game-planning tremendously on D. No, the Ags did not keep up the outstanding defensive play throughout the game and their five-minute lull to end the first half was abysmal … as was their close to the contest. But the gameplan was spot on. Vic was essentially holding off the duties that await him at Mississippi State and remained fully committed to helping the Aggies as much as possible in their defense of the national title. That run, unfortunately, ended on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh.

* Maryland began its comeback bid with a late-first-half run to pull to within three at halftime, 44-41. The first half came down to one big element: Rebounding. The Terps out-rebounded A&M, 21-12 in the first half, including a 10-1 advantage over the final 7:30 of the period. The only thing Maryland was able to do during the opening 15 minutes was rebound … which is the one thing that the Terps almost always do very well. Most of Maryland's production early came from offensive putbacks and junk buckets after missed baskets. But then down the stretch in the half, the Terps added more made baskets and sharp shooting to its toughness inside. Then Maryland started guarding on the other end, leading to transition points. At that point, A&M couldn't wait for the first half buzzer so that the players and coaches could get into the locker room and make some much-needed adjustments.

* The second half featured a back-and-forth battle and an exhilarating 20 minutes to watch. Maryland quickly cut the three-point A&M lead to one but A&M put the clamps on things for a good stretch, pulling back up by double digits on multiple occasions as the contest approached the midway point of the second. But Maryland stormed back and absolutely dominated the Aggies in every area of the basketball game over the final 10 minutes. Just like the first half, the Aggie offense went into a shell in the closing minutes against Maryland's 2-3 zone, while the Terps showed great toughness in diving after loose balls and crashing the boards. It appeared that A&M was playing not to lose and it looked like the Terps wanted it more … as sad as that is to say.

* Sydney Carter … raise your hand if you're going to miss watching this little warrior on the court for Texas A&M. Add me to that list … even though she's small and has some offensive deficiencies in her game, she's a monster on defense, plays with as much grit and toughness as I've ever seen from an A&M basketball player - on either the men's or women's side - and is about as good of a leader as you'll find. Here's to you, Syd, for pouring everything you have into this program for the past four years. You will be missed a great deal!

* I'll miss all of these seniors. Carter, Collins, White, Adaora Elonu and Kelsey Assarian leave Aggieland with a legacy that will never be forgotten. They are national champions, and despite a tough end to their great careers, what they did in College Station during their four years on the court will never be forgotten by fans of the women's game. Aggie women's hoops went "BOOM" while this group was on campus, and they brought home tons of hardware along the way. And Carter, White and Elonu end their careers in the "legendary" category among the all-time great players in school history. So long, seniors … it's been a tremendous ride.

* As for the future … it remains bright in Aggieland. A solid core group of Kelsey Bone (10 points, 7 rebounds vs. Maryland), Alexia Standish (19 points, 5 assists vs. Maryland) and Karla Gilbert (10 points, 3 rebounds vs. Maryland) return to go along with some supremely talented incoming players, giving the Aggies a very young but potentially explosive group of athletes. A&M will have to rely heavily on young players more than they have since the first two years of the Gary Blair era, but we're talking about some of the very best basketball players in the nation that will descend upon College Station this summer. Add to that the continued development from players like Bellock, Windham, Pratcher, Grant, Scott and Mitchell, and A&M should be able to compete for the SEC West title in year one.