The Texas A&M Aggies defeated Duke 77-63 as A&M reached the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament for the first time. They did it behind the driving force of pint-size point guard A'Quonesia Franklin, who scored all 13 of her points in the second half, while overcoming the loss of Danielle Gant. Gant sat out the second half suffering from dehydration.
No. 2 seeded A&M played with grit and defensive discipline, frustrating Duke's guards in the second half and expanding a four-point halftime lead to double digits. A&M did it with balance from its starters and super sub Morenike Atunrase. Patrice Reado scored 17 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Aggies, and she and La Toya Micheaux drew charges from discombulated Duke to keep A&M in control in the second half.
Franklin went down with a severe leg cramp with 4 minutes to play but came back to finish out the game as Duke couldn't trim the lead under 10 points.
Takia Starks had 15 points and Atunrase had 13 for the Aggies.
A&M will play the winner of the Tennessee-Notre Dame game on Tuesday night in the Oklahoma City regional final for a berth in the Final Four.
-- Vince Langford
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