Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

No one was paying too much attention last week when Texas A&M coach Gary Blair proclaimed: “We’re going to win a national championship.”

Who could have known what havoc Danielle Adams would wreak? Notre Dame certainly found out.

The senior scored 22 of her 30 points in a dominating second half and answered the Fighting Irish basket for basket Tuesday night to help the Aggies beat Notre Dame in a 76-70 thriller and bring the women’s title to the former all-male military academy.

“I had a little voice in my head, ‘Don’t let this team down,'” said Adams, who became the school’s first All-American a week ago and added outstanding player of the tournament to her honors.

“Every time we’d get down, we were telling each other we’re not going to lose this game. We worked hard all season to prepare for this point. I had to do this for my teammates. They’ve been doing everything for me. I decided to take them on my back and just let them ride on my back.”

This was the supposed to be the year Maya Moore’s Connecticut juggernaut won its third straight title or Stanford broke through or Tennessee got back to the top. But Texas A&M and Notre Dame got rid of them all — plus the fourth No. 1 seed, Baylor — to set up an unlikely final between two rugged No. 2 seeds.

And at the end of a seesaw game that easily beat the men’s final for excitement — and points scored — the Aggies made their coach proud. At 65, he became the oldest coach to win the women’s championship just one night after UConn’s 68-year-old Jim Calhoun did the same thing on the men’s side.

WRITTEN BY by STATS LLC and The Associated Press & FULL STORY HERE