Sophomore guard Sydney Colson had six of the Aggies' season-high 20 steals as A&M rolled to a 73-42 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night at the Joyce Center before 4,577.
A&M (27-7) advances to play Arizona State (25-8) in the Trenton Regional semifinals on Sunday. Top-ranked Connecticut and California will meet in the other Trenton Regional semifinal.
A&M, which is seeded second to UConn, has had two bigger blowouts than the unbeaten Huskers because of defense.
The ninth-ranked Aggies forced a season-high 32 turnovers from the Gophers. A&M's pressure set the tone early by converting nine turnovers into 10 points for a 21-9 lead. Minnesota (20-12) was averaging only 15.6 turnovers per game but had exceeded that by halftime.
"We win with defense, and we'll continue to keep winning with defense," A&M coach Gary Blair said.
The Aggies' previous season high for turnovers forced was 30, which came in A&M's 80-45 first-round victory over Evansville. A&M scored 34 points off its turnovers, giving the Aggies a whopping 20-point edge in that category.
Senior All-Big 12 players Danielle Gant and Takia Starks led the Aggies in scoring. Gant had 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Starks had 10 of her 17 in the first half as A&M took a 39-24 lead. Colson and Tanisha Smith each scored 13 points,
Minnesota had the edge in size, but the Aggies had a 37-28 rebounding advantage. A&M's 15 offensive rebounds gave the Aggies a 17-5 edge in second-chance points.
"We came out and did everything right," Starks said. "We haven't played this well since, I really don't know, probably nonconference or [against] Oklahoma."
A&M's shooters were just as hot as the defense, hitting 10 of their first 13 shots.
"We played well especially with the jump shots early by Smith to start it off and Starks with three in a row," Blair said. "I think they were so worried about Gant inside that it opened it up for everyone else."
Blair was concerned about Minnesota's size, but Gant said the players weren't worried after winning two of three against Oklahoma and twins Courtney and Ashley Paris this season.
"We knew that we can go inside," Gant said. "We play with the Parises all the time. Going against them is hard work, so we knew that tonight we could come out and hang with them."
Ashley Ellis-Milan scored 15 points to lead the Gophers, who shot only 35 percent. Minnesota hit only 5 of 19 second-half shots.
Emily Fox, Minnesota's leading scorer this year at 13.2 points a game, was stifled by A&M's perimeter pressure. She was 0 for 11 from the floor, and her only points were a pair of free throws during a 16-2 Aggie run that put the game away.
Texas A&M forced five turnovers during the spurt. Smith capped the run with a fast-break layup after she stole the ball from Katie Ohm to give the Aggies a 57-29 lead.
Brittany McCoy committed 10 turnovers for the Gophers. Fox, who had four turnovers, said the A&M defense was even tougher than she expected.
"Their hands were on a lot of balls," Fox said. "They were just everywhere and we didn't adjust. We didn't control the ball."
McCoy and Fox ranked 1-2 in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio. They two had only two assists Tuesday.
Blair said that was the key.
"We were able to create a lot of turnovers," Blair said. "You win with guard play, and those two guards are very special. We have so much respect for them. But those are the two we were trying to stop."
A&M, which is fourth in the nation in 3-point defense, held the Gophers to a season-low one 3-pointer on 1-of-7 shooting. It was by Ohm, who did set a Minnesota single-season record with her 74th 3-pointer of the season, but it came in the first minute of play. The Aggies put the clamps on Minnesota's shooters after that.
"We were really focused on not letting [Ohm] just go out there and shoot, or not have open looks at least," Colson said.
A&M was able to run after several of its steals, getting 14 fastbreak points.
The turnovers were the most by the Gophers this season, surpassing the 26 they committed at Iowa State.
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