Chuck Carlton

Archive | E-mail

The three starting seniors on the Texas A&M women's basketball team were greeted last week by a locker room message from coach Gary Blair.

"Seniors," it read, "make sure this is not your last practice at Reed Arena."

Then, Takia Starks, Danielle Gant and La Toya Micheaux made sure the workout set the right tone for an NCAA Tournament run. Once again, a low-maintenance senior class did what was needed with a minimum amount of prompting.

The three have Texas A&M back in the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. The Aggies, seeded second in the Trenton Region, face No. 6 Arizona State today.

They hope to exceed last year's trip to the final eight, although top-ranked UConn could represent a major roadblock in the regional finals.

"It's been wild, just knowing last year we had a great opportunity to get to the Final Four," Gant said. "We have a special senior class, and I think we can get farther than we did last year."

The class might not have turned around A&M basketball in the Blair era. That distinction resides with a predecessor, last year's senior class that included A'Quonesia Franklin and Morenike Atunrase.

This group, however, cemented the program's status.

The Aggies have gone to the NCAA Tournament four consecutive years, won 102 games overall and posted a 46-18 Big 12 record.

When Blair was at Arkansas, he had built a Top 25 program by the time he left for College Station. This week, he said he felt A&M had become a top-10 program.

Not that everything has come easily.

Starks, who became the school's leading scorer during the tournament, passing Lisa Branch, has major family concerns.

Her father, Vernon, has battled lymphoma since Starks was a senior at Houston Westfield. He wasn't well enough to attend the first and second rounds but hopes to be in the stands today.

"He's always been my hero," Starks said. "He's given me everything I needed."

She has another concern. Her mom, Debra Starks, is an Army reservist who has already served one tour in Iraq as a military policewoman. She's currently in Utah, training reservists for deployment to Afghanistan.

"Takia's meant more to our program because of the way she's handled her business," Blair said. "We'll be able to talk about Takia for years to come."

The same holds true for Gant. She ranks third on the school's career scoring list and needs eight rebounds to move into first place.

After a slow start because of preseason arthroscopic surgery, Gant has regained her 2007-08 form.

"Gant is Gant," Blair said. "There's not a 5-10 player in the country that plays harder and better than her."

The 6-3 Micheaux lacks the big scoring numbers of the other two. Her offensive struggles have masked her work clogging the middle on a team that lives and dies with its defense.

"You go ask [Oklahoma's] Courtney Paris who she doesn't want to have guard her," Blair said, "and it's Micheaux."

Together, the three want to add a little more to their legacy.