Aggies intimidate, 'don't bully'

OKLAHOMA CITY - Pat Summitt and her Tennessee Lady Vol basketball staff wasn't sitting around thinking about tornado warnings late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Storms swirled all over central Oklahoma. Sirens blared. Funnel clouds were sighted.

But Summitt and crew were focused on a whirlwind found on film - the Texas A&M defense.

UT's head coach watched the Aggies rattle, harass and frustrate Duke all night during Texas A&M's 77-63 region semifinal victory Sunday.

Now it's Tennessee's turn to find a chink in that pressure at 7 tonight, a Final Four berth on the line.

"It all starts with their defense," Summitt said of the Aggies. "They're high-energy players, obviously athletic, they're committed to playing hard. They're committed to supporting each other.

"To me, they just bring a type of defense that makes a lot of teams uncomfortable and obviously they score off of their turnovers."

Uncomfortable is a good word for it.

The No. 2-seed Aggies forced Duke into 19 turnovers and limited the Blue Devils to 37 percent shooting from the floor.

Texas A&M has limited opponents to an average of 54.9 points and forced 21.4 turnovers per game this season.

Just don't call them bullies.

A&M coach Gary Blair apparently read that term somewhere in a paper and didn't take kindly to the insinuation.

"This team is a lot more physical than my Arkansas teams, a lot more physical," he said speaking of his days as a Razorbacks' coach. "But what we're not is what I've seen in the paper a couple times - 'bully.' We're not a bully out there.

"That's called defense. It's called great defense. When (UT's Candace) Parker slaps one of our shots down, that's not her intimidating, that's just good defense. That's how we have to play, because we do have some limitations out there."

Tennessee players have their sights on exploiting those "limitations."

The Lady Vols repeatedly said they have to be cautious with the ball and hit A&M hard with their inside game.

"We have to be smart about our passes, maybe throwing a little more backdoor," senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle said. "I was watching them against Duke and they were getting out in the passing lanes great, very athletic."

The swarm is led by A&M point guard A'Quonesia Franklin, season steals leader Danielle Gant and Takia Starks (four steals against Duke).

"I think Franklin is obviously a key," Summitt said. "Not only is she super quick, but she's the player that I think just leads by example in what they want to do. She's the one that makes them go."

The Aggies obviously like to intimidate with their pressure, but Summitt said her team isn't exactly clueless on how to handle tough defenses.

"Obviously playing LSU twice was good preparation because they have size and they also get after you, not only in the half-court game but the full-court game," she said. "Now, have we faced someone that is as relentless on defense as A&M? Probably not."