White lives up to nickname: 'Silent assassin'

Tyra White has earned multiple nicknames at Texas A&M.

At different times, she might be referred to as Tata or Golden Eyes or Tyra Banks. Teammate Sydney Carter has a favorite, one that seems appropriate with the Aggies in the final of the NCAA Women's Tournament thanks to White.

"I call her our silent assassin," Carter said.

Stanford learned how dangerous White can be Sunday night. The junior forward scored nine points in the final 4:31 to lead A&M's 63-62 comeback victory, delivering the winning basket with 3.3 seconds remaining. She showed it again Tuesday with a huge three-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded to put the Aggies up 73-68 with 1:07 left.

Good PR man, and coachThe excitement in College Station, Texas, for women's basketball is evidence of an impressive turnaround in attitudes at Texas A&M, a formerly men-only military school.

When the school began admitting women in 1963, some alumni bristled at the decision of funding men's and women's sports equally after the passage of Title IX in 1972.

Years ago, the Texas A&M women's basketball team had to share uniforms with other sports teams, and few people besides the players' friends and family would attend the games.

He doesn't have to do that anymore, with the team averaging more than 6,000 people a game, but the down-home Blair still roams through the stands and tosses out sweets to fans before each home game.

In and around campus in College Station Tuesday, fans were wearing plus signs on their hands before the game, as Blair does to remind himself to stay positive with his players. On Tuesday, the Aggies' baseball team moved up the start of its game by two hours so fans could get home to watch the women play basketball.

"Could you picture that happening?" Blair said beforehand.

Party in College StationTexas A&M fans huddled around televisions to watch the Aggies play in their first national championship game on Tuesday night.