Arkansas Well Represented in 2015 NCAA Women’s Bracket

UALR Trojans, Arkansas Razorbacks (Both Hoping To Be 2015 NCAA Women’s Bracket Busters) and Arkansas State Red Wolves All See Post-Season Action

LITTLE ROCK – The UALR women’s basketball team earned a No. 11 seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament when the NCAA released the tournament bracket on Monday night. The Trojans will play No. 6 seed Texas A&M on Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., home of No. 3 seed Arizona State. The matchup will take place at 3 p.m. CST.

The game will be televised on ESPN2.

If UALR advances to the second round of the tournament, it would play the winner of No. 14-seed Ohio and the host Sun Devils on Monday.

UALR and Texas A&M have played six times in their history, and the Aggies have a 5-1 record against the Trojans. The teams last met in 2011 in Little Rock.

This will be the Trojans’ fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament. UALR’s only NCAA Tournament victory came in 2010 when it was an at-large bid to the tournament. As a No. 11 seed that season, the Trojans defeated No. 6 seed Georgia Tech in the first round before losing to No. 3 seed Oklahoma in the second round on the Sooners’ home court.

More recently, the Trojans were a No. 14 seed in 2012, losing a first-round game to No. 3 seed Delaware at the Jack Stephens Center. The team was a No. 12 seed in 2011 when it lost to Green Bay in the first round.

UALR earned its automatic bid to this year’s NCAA Tournament when it claimed the Sun Belt Tournament Championship on Saturday night. The Trojans bested Arkansas State 78-72 in a thrilling, back-and-forth contest, winning the league tournament for the third time. Taylor Gault was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player while Alexius Dawn, Ka’Nesheia Cobbins and Gault all earned a place on the All-Tournament Team.

As a whole, UALR broke multiple program records for success this season including wins in a season (28), wins in the regular season (25) and wins in conference play (18). Those 18 victories in league play also tied the all-time Sun Belt record. Coach Joe Foley is in his 12th year with the team, and he has 699 career wins entering Saturday’s matchup with Texas A&M.

The Trojans are fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 51.0 points per game. The team is also excellent from the 3-point line this year, ranking 10th in the country with a 3-point shooting percentage of 37.5 percent. The team also won the Sun Belt Tournament regular-season championship outright for the first time in program history.

And from the Arkansas Razorbacks:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team received an at-large bid as a 10-seed and faces Northwestern in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

The Razorbacks (17-13) are making their first appearance under first-year head coach Jimmy Dykes and their first since 2012 when they advanced to the second round.

Arkansas is in the Oklahoma City Regional and takes on Northwestern (23-8) Friday at 11 a.m. in Waco, Texas. Host Baylor opens with Northwestern State.

QUOTING @COACHJIMMYDYKES
I’m so excited for our players, staff and fans.  The NCAA Tournament is the goal of every program, and for us to achieve that in our first season together is very rewarding. The opportunity to play more games together and continue to learn and grow as a team is critical as we build the foundation of what we expect will be a nationally competitive program for years to come. Go Hogs, Be Arkansas.

NOTES

• This is Arkansas’ first NCAA Tournament appearance under first year head coach Jimmy Dykes
• @RazorbackWBB last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 advancing to the second round
• Arkansas is making its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance
• The Razorbacks are 12-9 in NCAA Tournament gamesArkansas has won eight consecutive opening round games
• Arkansas reached the NCAA Final Four in 1998 falling to #1 Tennessee in the semifinals in Kansas City
• Arkansas has been as high as a third seed (1991) and as low as a 12th seed (1989).
• The Razorbacks have been a sixth seed most often – three times (2012, 2002, 1995)
• This is the seventh time in program history the Razorback women’s and men’s basketball team have been in the NCAA Tournament in the same season

To see full-size, printable bracket, click the image below.

And the Red Wolves Make the WNIT

JONESBORO, Ark. (3/16/15) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team has accepted an invitation to play in the 2015 Women’s National Invitational Tournament. The Red Wolves will host Western Michigan Wednesday, March 18. Round 1 game times will be announced Tuesday afternoon.

Arkansas State finished the season with a 23-10 overall record and a 16-4 Sun Belt Conference record. The appearance in the postseason tournament will be A-State’s 10th all-time and its sixth under the director of head coach Brian Boyer. This is the Red Wolves’ second consecutive berth into the postseason tournament and the fifth time in school history that A-State has played in the WNIT in back-to-back seasons.

Ticket prices for Wednesday’s game will be $10 for all seating and A-State students will get into the game for free with their student identification cards. Parking for Wednesday’s event will be free. Season ticket holders will have until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to claim their seats or they will be released into the general ticket sale.  Tickets and information will be available beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday by calling 1-888-ASU-Fans or through AStateRedWolves.com.

The Red Wolves have an overall record of 12-8 all-time in the WNIT and have advanced the championship game twice in the tournament’s history. Arkansas State captured the championship in 1992-93 when it was known as the National Women’s Invitational Tournament.

The A-State-Western Michigan winner will play the winner of Middle Tennessee and Ball State. The site of the Round 2 game will be determined after the conclusion of the first round.

Western Michigan finished the 2014-15 season with a 20-12 overall record and was third in the Mid-American Conference West Standings with an 11-7 mark. The Broncos advanced to the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament where they fell to Buffalo 63-60.

The Red Wolves and Broncos have met on two previous occasions with A-State posting victories in both games. Each meeting has come on a neutral court with first coming in 2001 with A-State taking a 72-62 victory at the DePaul Moran Realty Classic in Chicago. The second matchup took place in 2004 with Arkansas State earning a 75-43 win at the Duel in the Desert tournament in Las Vegas.

First-round action tips off Wednesday, March 18 and concludes Friday, March 20.  Second-round games begin March 21-24, round three March 25-27, quarterfinals March 28-30, and semifinals April 1-2. The championship game will be played Saturday, April 4 and will be televised live and in HD on CBS Sports Network at 3 p.m. ET. All games are hosted by participating schools.

To see full-size, printable bracket, click the image below.