By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Columnist

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OKLAHOMA CITY -- As Texas A&M point guard A'Quonesia Franklin dressed for Sunday's game against Duke, it hit her hard.

This amazing four-year ride could be over within a few hours.

She'd been confident they would beat Texas-San Antonio and Hartford in the first two rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, but there were no guarantees against a team as good as the Blue Devils.

She went next door in the hotel to ask fellow senior Patrice Reado if she was ready to take that Aggie uniform off for the last time.

Franklin said she was not. Reado agreed, as did the team's other senior, Morenike Atrunrase. They'd come too far to see the run end now. They vowed to give everything they had.

They played brilliantly, especially in the second half, combining for 38 of A&M's 48 points in a 77-63 victory over Duke.

The seniors have a chance to add another jewel to their crown -- a trip to the Final Four. To do that, they'll have to beat the game's best program, the Tennessee Lady Vols, who have won seven national championships.

They'll also have to find a way to beat the college game's best woman basketball player, Candace Parker, who scored 34 points with 13 rebounds in a 74-64 victory over Notre Dame on Sunday.

The 6-foot-4 Parker is listed as a guard/forward/center on the Tennessee roster. In other words, she plays where she wants to. But these Aggies aren't going to concede one bucket.

"We made it this far. Why stop now?" Franklin said.

Against Duke, the 5-foot-3 Franklin couldn't be stopped. She dribbled through defenders like the Energizer Bunny. Once, she raced the entire length of the court, dashed through the lane, then dribbled back to the top of the key, leaving every Duke defender behind as the partisan A&M crowd roared its approval.

Then Franklin injured her ankle, needing to be helped off the floor. Two minutes later she was back, speeding around the court once again.

Atrunrase, who won the Big 12 Conference's Sixth Man Award, scored in double figures for the fifth straight game while adding a season-high seven rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.

Reado never left the court in the second half, playing the most complete 20 minutes of her career.

"I'm so happy for my seniors who believed in me first to say 'I want to come to Texas A&M,'" said an emotional head coach Gary Blair. "And this was after [eight] losing seasons in a row."

Now they are assured of leaving as the program's biggest winners.

"This is the most rewarding season I've been part of," Blair said. "These kids have played their hearts out. The kids have overcome adversities due to injuries during the year. When the injuries happened, we didn't dwell on them, we just put another person in place and went on."

Franklin didn't miss any time after having a knee scoped in the offseason, but needed to work her way back into shape. Her sluggish start coincided with A&M's 1-4 start in Big 12 play.

Reado has battled chronic back problems and migraines, while Atunrase missed the first nine games after having surgery to repair a stress fracture, her third injury within a year.

Finally, though, it's now about the pain they've inflicted on others while compiling a school-best 92-38 overall record during their four years on campus.

To add to that record, the seniors will have to play just as good against Tennessee as they did against Duke, if not better.

Blair has no doubt his team will play hard. He said this team is better -- especially on defense -- than his 1998 team at Arkansas that went to the Final Four.

"Our game is all about effort," Blair said. "Effort, effort, effort. And when we can play with that type of effort, it doesn't matter if it's Candace Parker or whoever we're trying to stop."

The only thing A&M's seniors don't want to stop is the most amazing run in school history.

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

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