By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Staff Writer

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OKLAHOMA CITY -- It was about as cruel an ending as possible to the greatest season in Texas A&M women's basketball history.

The Aggies had a 42-37 lead over defending national champ Tennessee after Danielle Gant's steal and layup with 6 minutes, 19 seconds left Tuesday night in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament's regional championship.

The maroon-clad fans among the 9,341 at the Ford Center were standing, roaring. A&M was playing solid defense, forcing the Lady Vols to miss 13 of their first 16 shots in the second half along with five turnovers.

Tennessee's Candace Parker, the best women's basketball player at any level, had missed the first 9 minutes and 21 seconds of the second half after injuring her left shoulder in the first half. Parker hit 9 of 12 shots before the injury, but painfully missed her first three tries afterward.

She missed a layup, which started the sequence that ended with Gant giving the Aggies their biggest lead of the game.

The Final Four was just a few plays away. But the thought of basking in Florida sunshine later this week became more distant with each A&M possession.

A&M scored only three points in the final 6 minutes as Tennessee rallied for a 53-45 victory.

"That hurts," A&M head coach Gary Blair said. "[But] give credit to Tennessee for winning it. I don't think we lost it, I think Tennessee won it down the stretch."

A&M had several chances to hit big shots, but it was a long 3-pointer by Tennessee's Alexis Hornbuckle that ended A&M's season.

It looked like A&M's gritty defense was about to force Tennessee's 18th turnover as Parker struggled to control a pass in traffic. Parker, who was moving with her back to the basket, gained control before walking, flicking the ball to Hornbuckle, who was about 30 feet from the basket.

Hornbuckle hit nothing but net with 4 seconds left on the shot clock, pushing Tennessee's lead to 48-43 with 50 seconds left.

The long faces on the Aggie fans who had been cheering at the top of their lungs just seconds earlier said it all. They so much wanted to be part of one the greatest victories in school history for any sport.

Instead, they watched as Tennessee players had a mild celebration, donning the Final Four hats and T-shirts. When you've won seven national championships, you expect to win regional championships, so this was ho-hum for the Lady Vols.

This was all new to A&M, which embraced the spotlight. And these Aggies sure didn't play like rookies. They played like they belonged. And they did.

Tennessee ended A&M's 12-game winning streak, but that didn't erase what this team accomplished in becoming the first in school history to reach the Elite Eight. The Aggies showed they can play with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Blair made sure his amazing seniors got one last ovation, pulling them with 3.6 seconds left. He hugged A'Quonesia Franklin, Patrice Reado and Morenike Atunrase, as did associate head coach Vic Schaefer.

Blair is hopeful they'll get a shot to play in the WNBA or overseas, but he knows whatever they do, they'll be winners.

"I want them to be successful in life [and] use this as a learning experience," Blair said. "Sometimes you have to fail before you can succeed. I think that's what we did tonight. But we had every intention of winning this basketball game."

No one knows that more than legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt, Parker and the rest of women's college basketball.

"I knew it was going to be a very tough game for us to win," Summitt said. "We came in with tremendous respect for their basketball team. And I think that helped us in the end."

No opposing coach could have said that five years ago on April Fool's Day and kept a straight face.

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

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