By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Staff Writer

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Texas A&M's Danielle Gant jumped into press row to make a steal, turning in midair to throw the ball back to teammate Sydney Colson.

Gant regained her balance and sprinted toward the basket, earning a return pass from Colson. She glided by two slow-footed defenders and completed the driving layup.

That pushed A&M's lead to 30 as the bench applauded, including associate head coach and defensive guru Vic Schaefer.

"Coach Schaefer was telling me to get up the line, because I was letting my girl catch the ball every time down the floor," Gant said. "I just got up the line and knocked it out of bounds and flew over the table [to get it]."

It was that kind of relentless pressure that allowed No. 2 seed A&M to power its way to a 91-52 victory in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday at the Maravich Center.

A&M (27-7) will play Hartford at 6 or 8:30 p.m. Monday, with the winner advancing to Oklahoma City on March 30 for the Sweet 16. Hartford advanced with a 59-55 victory over Syracuse on the strength of a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13 seconds left.

A&M's defense made sure the closing seconds against UTSA were meaningless.

The Aggies forced turnovers on five of UTSA's first six possessions for an 8-2 lead and never looked back. UTSA had 23 turnovers in the first half, which led to 28 of A&M's 49 points at the break.

"We were just ready," A&M head coach Gary Blair said. "We were just hooked up, baby. We were wired."

A&M has played like that for almost two months, earning a school-best No. 2 seed. A&M won its 10th straight and 14th in its last 15 games with the most lopsided postseason victory in school history.

The 5-foot-11 Gant had 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in only 19 minutes as the Roadrunners (23-10) had no player who could physically match up against her.

"We gave her a little space, and she was knocking down every shot," UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair said. "We didn't do a very good job guarding her. She is just so talented."

A&M had four players score in double figures for the third straight game.

Senior guard Morenike Atunrase, who is from Shreveport, and played in her native state for the first time at A&M, came off the bench for a game-high 19 points in 21 minutes.

"We've got a lot of different weapons," Blair said. "You can bring Morenike off the bench, and she was in the game for about 5 seconds and hit the most beautiful 3 you've seen. Not too many kids can do that."

Junior guard Takia Starks scored 14 points and senior point guard A'Quonesia Franklin added 12, as balance helped the Aggies shoot 50 percent from the field, including 6 of 9 on 3-pointers.

UTSA, which won the Southland Conference, needed a half to get comfortable in its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

"I thought we were very nervous," Rippetoe-Blair said. "I thought we were very nervous coming out and we knew in those first 5 minutes things can get away from you, and that's what happened. You try to tell your kids, [but] they have never been here before."

After UTSA's first basket, the Roadrunners didn't have as many points as turnovers again until former Bryan all-state guard Whitney York hit a 15-footer to make it 60-25 with 15:53 left.

"They would kind of let you penetrate in the lane, kind of bait you a little bit and then be out in the passing lanes," said UTSA guard Monica Gibbs, who had 10 turnovers. "Since we were moving at a faster pace, it made it a little bit difficult to pass the ball and see the floor as well. Lanes that were usually open weren't as open."

NOTES -- York, a freshman guard, played 22 minutes. She had two steals, four points and three turnovers. ... A&M had a 42-27 rebounding edge with 23 offensive rebounds leading to 19 points. ... A&M junior center La Toya Micheaux had a career-high six steals and helped A&M score 36 points inside. "[Patrice] Reado and Micheaux played very well," said Blair, crediting them for great screens along with a combined nine offensive rebounds. ... Blair said in the press conference that Gant is 5-10. "Forget what the media program says." Gant said a few minutes later that she's 5-11. ... Some of Atunrase's former high school teammates were in the crowd along with her mother and other relatives who live in Baton Rouge. ... A No. 15 seed has never beaten a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament. "I didn't want to become an asterisk," Blair said. ... A&M set a school record for victories in a season, giving Blair his 100th victory at A&M. ... The 91 points were the most scored by A&M this season.

• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.

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