No.11 UALR draws No. 6 A&M
Joe Foley placed a phone call to an old friend Monday morning.
UALR’s 12th-year women’s coach was wanting to know if Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair, who regularly keeps up with the national women’s basketball scene, had any idea where Foley’s Trojans would be slotted in the NCAA Tournament when it was announced Monday night.
“He said, ‘I’ll call you later,’ ” Foley said. “And I thought, ‘That’s not Coach Blair.’ ”
Little did Foley know at the time, that they would be meeting face-to-face later this week.
UALR earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 6 Texas A&M on Saturday at 3 p.m. Crnral in Tempe, Ariz. The Trojans will play either No. 3 seed Arizona State or No. 14 Ohio if they beat the Aggies.
Speaking from a packed Legends Room at Little Rock’s
Jack Stephens Center, where a crowd had gathered to watch the field unveiled Monday, Foley said he’s excited to play for a sixth time against Blair, with whom he’s been friends since Foley coached at Arkansas Tech and Blair was at Arkansas.
Foley said he was so struck by the matchup that he didn’t even think about what group of players he was about to have to scout, but rather with whom he’d be matching coaching wits.
“I didn’t think about us playing A&M. I thought, ‘I’m playing against one of my best buddies,’ ” Foley said. “It’s pretty unique. We’ve played together, so it’s not anything unique there. But it’s the NCAA Tournament.”
Texas A&M (23-9) earned an at-large bid after finishing fifth in the SEC regular-season standings.
The Aggies, making their 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament trip, lost to LSU in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in North Little Rock on March 1.
UALR (28-4) and Texas A&M last played on Nov. 17, 2011, when the Aggies were eight months removed from winning a national championship. Current Trojans seniors Taylor Gault, Ka’Nesheia Cobbins and Kiera Clark were freshmen playing in their third college game that day, but all have vivid memories of the 83-54 loss.
“We got a good whooping that day,” said Clark, who played two minutes in the game. “Just being able to come back and know what I know now — I have a little more experience on the court — I think it’s very exciting for myself as well as my teammates.”
Foley and the three seniors said they hope Saturday’s game can signal progress for the three who have become the crux for the Trojans’ best regular season in program history.
UALR set a program record for overall victories, conference victories and will end the season with its fewest losses.
The Trojans averaged 78.7 points per game in the Sun Belt Tournament, while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from three-point range.
UALR also held teams to 51.0 points per game this season, fifth lowest in the country.
The roll the Trojans are on has their three seniors thinking they’ve got a better chance at a more successful showing against the Aggies. Gault, Clark and Cobbins were also freshmen when UALR were a No. 14 seed in the tournament and lost to No. 3 Delaware 73-42 at the Jack Stephens Center.
“I think we have a better team this year than my freshman year,” said Gault, who averaged 20.7 points per game in the Sun Belt Tournament. “I think we’re more sound. We have a lot of chemistry. And our defense is amazing. So I’m just excited to see how we can defend [Texas A&M].”
Foley said he is just as proud of his team, and now gets to show it off against one of his best friends.
“The pressure is kind of on them, no doubt. It’s Texas A&M. They’ve got the money, they’ve got the program, they’ve got the SEC,” Foley said. “I think we’ve got a good shot. Seeing the way we play, I think anybody would think we’d have a good shot.”
Arkansas State (23-10), which lost to UALR in the Sun Belt Tournament final Saturday, did not receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
The Red Wolves will host Western Michigan on Wednesday night in the first round of the WNIT.