CONWAY -- The University of Central Arkansas' women's basketball team had to wait until the fourth and final regional for its NCAA Tournament first-round opponent to be announced during ESPN's selection announcement Monday.
Once the Sugar Bears learned their opponent was Texas, Coach Sandra Rushing was relieved.
"Anybody who knows anything about me, I'm not a patient person," Rushing said. "I wanted it to happen right then and there. But you have to wait. I'm just excited to have the opportunity to go back to the NCAA Tournament.
"These players deserve all the credit. They've pulled together. I'm proud of them and what they've accomplished."
UCA (26-4) earned the No. 14 seed in the Lexington (Ky.) Regional and will travel to Austin, Texas, on Friday to face third-seeded Texas (23-8). Game time is 1:30 p.m. Central at the Frank Erwin Center on the Longhorns' campus.
The winner will face Auburn (No. 11 seed) or North Carolina State (No. 6 seed) on Sunday. Notre Dame is the No. 1 seed in the Lexington Regional while Connecticut (Bridgeport, Conn.), South Carolina (Stockton, Calif.) and Baylor (Oklahoma City) earned the other top seeds in the 64-team tournament.
In 2016, UCA found out about its first-round game against Louisville in the first regional of ESPN's selection show. On Monday, the Sugar Bears were part of the 30th first-round matchup to be announced.
UCA senior guard Maggie Proffitt said she and her teammates believed they would receive a No. 14 seed in the tournament, as they did last season. As the second No. 3 vs. No. 14 matchup was announced, the Sugar Bears were hoping they would be facing third-seed Florida State in the Stockton Regional. But once Western Illinois flashed on the ESPN broadcast, there were several audible groans from players and fans seated in the Farris Center stands.
When ESPN flashed "C. Arkansas" for UCA, the Sugar Bears players and coaches applauded and screamed, finally knowing where they were headed this weekend.
"We're really excited to go to Texas," Proffitt said. "We weren't expecting that at all. We're ready to start preparing."
A year after winning the Southland Conference championship, UCA was picked to finish second behind Abilene Christian in the league's preseason coaches' and sports information directors' polls. The Sugar Bears started 1-2 in the Southland, but have won their past 17 games, including a 60-35 rout of Stephen F. Austin in Sunday's tournament championship game at Katy, Texas.
Texas finished second in the Big 12 Conference with a 15-3 record. The Longhorns are led by Coach Karen Aston, a Bryant native and former player at University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Aston coached at Vilonia (1988-1993) and Fort Smith Northside (1993-1994) high schools before entering college coaching.
Junior guard Brooke McCarty leads the Longhorns in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game. Freshman forward Joyner Holmes is Texas' leading rebounder with 8.2 rebounds per game.
Rushing said knows the Sugar Bears will have a tough challenge Friday. But while she respects the Longhorns, Rushing said she believes her team has an opportunity to earn the school's first Division I NCAA Tournament victory.
"They're Texas," Rushing said. "But let's go play."
Sports on 03/14/2017