The Shockers played well for the first 12 minutes of the game. Unfortunately, the Texas A&M Aggies blitzed them for the other 28.

Wichita State made its NCAA Tournament debut, with the No. 14-seeded Shockers losing to the three-seeded Texas A&M Aggies 71-45.

Taking down the Aggies on their home-court is a daunting task, but the Shockers appeared to be up to the task taking a 20-19 lead.

But the Shockers would go on to score just two points in the final eight minutes of the first half and found themselves trailing 35-22 at halftime.

A 12-2 Aggie run seven minutes into the second half built their lead to 52-29.

MVP: Michelle Price displayed arguably her best performance of the season, scoring 12 points while helping limit the Aggies’ most dangerous offensive threat, Kelsey Bone.

X- Factor: Bone sat for the final 10 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble. Kristi Bellock scored 12 of her 18 points in the first half to help the Aggies build their lead.

Big Issue: The size disparity became problematic as the Aggies out-rebounded the Shockers 34-20.

Bright Future: Overshadowing the final outcome and rightfully so is the amount of credibility that coach Jody Adams brought to the WSU women’s basketball program. Adams led the women’s basketball program to its first regular-season conference title, post-season tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. 

Next year, Adams will have the core of Alex Harden, Michaela Dapprich, Michelle Price and Kelsey Jacobs to build around. The foundation has been set—nowhere to go but up.