Janiah Barker told herself, “We can’t go out like this.”
It was late in the third quarter of Texas A&M’s first-round matchup against Nebraska in the first NCAA tournament Barker, then a sophomore forward, had played in and her team had trailed by as many as 17 points. Barker grabbed the ball in the paint after Nebraska’s Jaz Shelley lost her handle and immediately dished it to teammate Aicha Coulibaly, who was streaking down the court and scored.
That sequence sparked a rally from Texas A&M, which went on an 18-5 run to pull within five points.