Another April, another heartbreak.

The Stanford women will have to keep dreaming, at least for another year. For the fourth time in as many seasons, the Cardinal (33-3) fell short in the Final Four, this time to Texas A&M (32-5) in the semifinals last night in Indianapolis. Junior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike’s 31 points couldn’t offset poor late-game offense and foul trouble for Stanford, which surrendered a 10-point lead to the Aggies and ultimately fell by a single point, 63-62.

“We had them down, and we didn’t knock them out,” said Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer. “This is really tough for our team.”

Stanford, typically a slow-start team, challenged a tough Aggies defense early on and battled its way to a 27-23 halftime lead. Nnemkadi Ogwumike sank her first four baskets, and senior point guard Jeanntte Pohlen knocked in a go-ahead three-pointer near the end of the half that sent Stanford to the locker room with a sense of control.

While the Cardinal was able to pad its lead a bit in the second, things turned around in a hurry.

Texas A&M began seeking salvation at the three-point line as its waning offense put it back 54-44, following a free-throw from Nnemkadi Ogwumike. After bricking a couple poor shots from range, A&M got a bit of help from Stanford as each of the Ogwumike sisters sent Aggie shooters to the line on charging layups. Tyra White and Danielle Adams each turned their opportunities into three-point plays as they powered the Aggies to an 8-0 run that pulled them within 54-52.

That’s when it all began to fall apart for Stanford.

With freshman forward Chiney Ogwumike out on fouls, the Aggies quickly became the better-looking team. Sydney Carter nailed a three from the left wing over a leaping Pohlen to pull within a single point, which forced a tense timeout from VanDerveer with 85 seconds on the clock. Reality must have been settling in for the embattled Cardinal, and things got tougher from there.

Losing Chiney was a tough blow, even on a day she struggled a bit to find the basket.

“It definitely hurt us,” said senior forward Kayla Pedersen. “She gives us that fire and that passion, the offensive skill and defensive stops.”

Both teams were out of timeouts, and like the last round of a title fight, the final minute was a heart-wrenching flurry of two-point punches–all that mattered is who threw the final blow. Sydney Colson opened the frenzy for the Aggies, turning a missed three-pointer from sophomore forward Mikaela Ruef into a couple of converted free throws after drawing a foul in transition. Nnemkadi Ogwumike put Stanford back up, 60-59, with two of her own makes from the charity stripe. That put the clock at 0:35.

White put in a layup after eating a few seconds off the clock, which left Nnemkadi Ogwumike with just 19 seconds to answer. She did, charging in to the paint and hooking a layup over Aggies guard Danielle Adams with an outstretched right hand. That proved to be the final basket of Stanford’s season.

Colson charged down the court as the clock hit five seconds, dishing the ball away as she hit the paint. White picked it up in the post, dealing the Cardinal’s deathblow with a nonchalant toss off the backboard. Junior guard Lindy LaRocque stumbled over Pohlen to get at the ball, but neither of them could make the block.

“We needed just a little more extra effort just to stop the ball and not allow them to get that point-blank shot,” VanDerveer said about the final basket.

Ruef tossed a hail mary with three seconds left, but the game was already lost. As the Aggie bench stormed the court, the Stanford women had a lot to take in–in the long-term, they had just fallen short in the Final Four for the fourth straight time. More immediately, they were carrying an injured Pohlen away from the court. The Stanford captain came down hard on her ankle on the final play, falling to the floor and covering her face under the basket.

Pohlen, who joined Pedersen last week in setting the record for most games played in a Stanford uniform, had a solid 11 points–nine of them on threes–in her final collegiate game. As of press time, the extent of her injury remains unclear.

For Stanford’s seniors, the loss goes beyond frustrating–they’ve made the journey to the Final Four every season, only to come up short each time. It will be tough for VanDerveer and their younger teammates to let go of that legacy.

“I can have another chance, but…I feel bad for Kayla and Jeanette,” VanDerveer said. “They wanted this. They worked hard.”

“Losing the game is hard, but losing the team is even harder,” Nnemkadi Ogwumike said. “Not just as teammates but as friends. We spend every waking moment with each other, and it’s definitely been a really fun journey.”