A&M women's basketball coach Gary Blair wished the Nebraska Cornhuskers luck after he lost to them last month, thinking they had a good chance to go unbeaten in the regular season.
He also was hopeful he'd get a chance to give them their first loss, which will be the case in Saturday's Big 12 Tournament semifinals.
"I believe it would help Nebraska if they would lose one in the conference tournament to take that monkey off their back," Blair said. "That would be fine with me. Then let them win the national championship, let me just win this little thing right here."
Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors said both teams play a physical style, but that A&M is playing much better than when the two first met.
"If Nebraska is to lose, I think it's going to be tomorrow," she said.
A&M point guard Sydney Colson said the Aggies never could catch up after Nebraska hit a trio of 3-pointers for a 9-0 lead en route to a 71-60 victory.
"Every time we looked up at the clock we were down by nine," she said.
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Nebraska coach Connie Yori thinks her team's victory over Kansas State assures the Cornhuskers will be a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens Saturday.
Yori said she'll probably use more players against A&M. Nebraska had eight players score against KSU.
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Goestenkors compares her inability to beat A&M to her struggles to beat North Carolina when she first got to Duke.
"Once we got over the hump and won that first game, then we went on a roll, so I expect the same thing to happen," Goestenkors said. "I just hope it happens soon."
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Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey posed with the Yell Leaders for a picture before tipoff of A&M's game. Mulkey's Lady Bears lost to Oklahoma in the day's last quarterfinal game.
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A&M is 9-12 in the Big 12 Tournament and UT is 16-13. The Aggies improved to 5-1 in the quarterfinals. ... Goestenkors, who came from Duke, is 0-8 against the Aggies. ... UT sophomore post Ashley Gayle has 102 blocks becoming the school's first player to top the century mark. ... A&M has won seven of its last eight. ... A&M sophomore point guard Sydney Carter (103) topped 100 assists for the season, joining junior Sydney Carter (106) and senior Tanisha Smith (106). ... An Aggie fan at every opportunity held up a colorful sign that said "Final Four Aggies Destination San Antonio." The Final Four this year is in San Antonio.
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