By ROBERT CESSNA
Texas A&M women's coach Gary Blair thinks inch for inch, Danielle Gant is the best 5-foot-10 all-around player in the country. Gant smiles every time Blair says it in a press conference since she's been 5-11 since arriving in Aggieland four years ago.
Blair might be off an inch when it comes to Gant's height, but he's right on about her ability.
"I've never coached a player in 24 years who's worked harder than she does," Blair said. "She gives you everything she has. Everyone talks about how hard Texas A&M plays, it all starts with one girl and that's Danielle Gant."
Gant is a huge reason the Aggies are playing in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and why A&M is 5-1 in the tournament in the last two seasons. The unselfish Gant has averaged less than nine shots per game, yet she's often the first scoring option if the game is on the line. She's scored a school-record 139 points in eight NCAA Tournament games, averaging 17.3 points per contest.
Opposing coaches have marveled at Gant's ability. Blair has tried to move Gant to the perimeter as her career progressed, but the hard-nosed Gant kept going back inside.
"That kid is a post player at 5-foot-11," Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said. "She is strong and a beast on the boards. When you scout A&M, you better know where she is at all times."
Several of the Big 12's coaches, including Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry, are just glad they won't have to face Gant again.
"Danielle is the best undersized post in the country," Curry said.
Gant averages only 14.2 points per game, but she's having the best offensive run of her career. She's shooting a sizzling 40 for 56 in postseason. She is averaging 19.8 points in those games -- the best five-game span of her career. She's scored at least 20 points in four of them.
Gant and the ninth-ranked Aggies (27-7) will play the 19th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (25-8) at approximately 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the Sweet 16 in Trenton, N.J. A&M is looking for its second straight Elite Eight appearance.
The second-seeded Aggies have rolled past Evansville (80-45) and Minnesota (73-42) in the NCAA Tournament with Gant hitting 19 of 24 shots. A&M's pressure defense, which forced 62 turnovers in the last two games, has helped Gant on the offensive end.
"She gets out on the break from the post position, because she can anticipate steals and she starts her engine just a little bit quicker than a lot of our kids and we find her," Blair said.
Gant's passion is defense. She is a three-time All-Big 12 defensive selection and this season the league's coaches voted her the defensive player of the year.
Blair has used Gant to guard Oklahoma center Courtney Paris and even Oklahoma State guard Andrea Riley, a pair of All-Americans. Gant creates mismatches inside with quickness while athleticism and size are her advantages on the outside, though Blair said it typically just comes down to heart.
"She just wants to win," Blair said. "She's very unselfish."
Opponents have tried to slow down Gant with double- and even triple-teams, but Gant is shooting 53.7 percent from the floor (188 of 350) this season. She has a knack for finding shooting lanes.
"When she's playing at the four position, there are not too many four players that can run with her," Blair said. "Gosh, she's unselfish and is just a great kid. She's going to make somebody a good player at the next level."
Gant will have to move outside next season in the WNBA. She'll need to improve her mid-range jumper and ball-handling skills, but she's shown flashes of being a complete player at the collegiate level. She averages 2.2 steals and 2.1 assists, which are higher than her turnovers (1.9).
She's also been one of the best free-throw shooters in the Big 12. She is at 80 percent for the second straight season, but has set career marks for makes (108) and attempts (135).
"Shot selection will not be a problem for her in the pros, as she willingly defers to her teammates if she doesn't have an open look," say the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx on their Web site when talking about Gant's future.
The undersized Gant, playing in the country's best conference, leads the Aggies in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game and has 913 career rebounds, just eight away from being the all-time leader. Her 1,632 career points are third in school history and her 110 blocked shots are fourth.
"It's been a long road for me, but a great road," said Gant, who along with fellow seniors La Toya Micheaux and Takia Starks are a school-record 104-31, another best in school history. "It's been wild just knowing last year we had a great opportunity to get to the Final Four. We have a special senior class and I think we can actually get further than last year."
That would mean the Aggies would have to beat ASU and probably knock off top-ranked Connectictut (35-0), which plays California (27-6) in the other Trenton Regional semifinal.
"We just hope to get a chance to play Connecticut or California, but first we've got to play a very good Arizona State team that is very similar to the things we like to do," Blair said. "We're a defensive team first, and that's the way Arizona State is. They're a defensive magnet team first, and I'm looking forward to playing them."
Gant said Arizona State's pressure defense will be unlike any they've seen.
"I think with them putting a lot of pressure there are a lot of things we can exploit as far as back doors, ball screens, and slips, which are some of the things they are going to do," Gant said. "I think it's going to be a tough game, but as far as the offensive end I think we're just going to have to settle down and focus on what plays we want to run and what things we are going to do against their defense."
Gant will show the Sun Devils that's a two-way street, one she knows very well.
*
NOTES -- ASU is making its third Sweet 16 appearance in the last five seasons. ... ASU knocked off Florida State, 63-58, in second-round action, rallying from a nine-point deficit in the last 10 minutes. FSU ended A&M's 12-game winning streak to open the season. ... ASU is without leading scorer Dymond Simon (13.8 ppg). The guard suffered a season-ending left knee injury against Stanford on March 7. ASU had a 15-game winning streak snapped by Stanford in that game. ... ASU was 15-3 in Pac-10 play, tying Cal for second behind Stanford. ... A&M is 3-0 vs. ASU with the last meeting in the 1994-95 season. ... A&M played at Trenton in the NCAA Tournament in 2006. The sixth-seeded Aggies were beaten by 11th-seeded TCU in the first round. ... A&M associate head coach Vic Schaefer and ASU point guard Briann January were each a part of the U.S. Women's Jones Cup Team in the summer of 2007 along with A&M center La Toya Micheuax. January sprained her ankle against Florida State, but has practiced twice since. ... Both teams stress defense. A&M has scored 784 points off 750 turnovers. A&M is allowing only 54.6 ppg. Opponents are shooting only 36.5 percent from the floor, including 25.8 on 3-pointers. ASU is allowing 55.2 ppg. Opponents are shooting 40.3 percent from the field, 34.4 from 3-point range. ASU averages only 16.8 turnovers per game. ... ASU is 0-3 against Big 12 teams this season. The Sun Devils lost at Oklahoma (70-57), at Texas (81-71) and Nebraska (62-58), which was part of an 8-6 start.
TEXAS A&M WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
* Sunday's game: No. 2 seed Texas A&M (27-7) vs. No. 8 Arizona State (25-8), NCAA Tournament, Trenton Regional semifinals,1:30 p.m. at the Sovereign Bank Center, Trenton, N.J. Connecticut and California meet at 11 a.m. in the other semifinal. The winners will play Tuesday night.
* TV/radio: ESPN2 (Suddenlink Ch. 28)/KZNE, 1150 AM
A&M-ASU LINEUPS
TEXAS A&M (27-7)
NAMEPOS.HT.CL.PPGRPG
Takia StarksG5-8Sr.15.84.4
Sydney ColsonG5-8So. 6.6*3.0
Danielle GantF5-11Sr.14.26.8
Tanisha SmithF6-0Jr.10.43.7
La Toya MicheauxC6-3Sr. 2.6 6.5
ARIZONA STATE (25-8)
NAMEPOS.HT.CL.PPGRPG
Briann JanuaryG5-8Sr.12.0*4.8
Danielle OrsilloG5-9Jr.8.92.5
Kate EngelbrechtG5-10Sr.3.61.8
Kayli MurphyFJr.6-24.94.3
Sybil DostyP6-3Sr.8.26.9
*assists per game
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