LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – After a day of practice and interviews, the UALR women’s basketball team prepare for the first round of the NCAA Championships on Sunday, March 18 as the Trojans face No. 3 Delaware. Tip-off is set for 4:20 p.m. at The Jack Stephens Center. Tickets are available by calling 565-UALR or at UALRTrojans.com.
This is the Trojans third-straight appearance in the NCAA and second-straight automatic berth from winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. This will be the first time in the NCAA Tournament the Trojans will get to play in front of a home crowd.
“I think it’ll be huge,” said head coach Joe Foley. “I think anytime you’re playing in this type of arena, NCAA Tournament, you know, the runs are what help you. Everybody is capable of making runs when you get to this stage. Everyone’s a good ball team. So the crowd can kind of pick you up and get you one going. Sometimes, if you’ve got your head down, or sometimes they might help stop a run if you make a good defensive play and get your kids pumped up. So I think crowds are very important, and in the men’s game you’re watching Duke and all those and there’s not much of a crowd because they’re playing on different courts. But when you get to play on your home floor, and a lot of them are your home crowd, I think that’s a big factor.”
UALR enters the tournament 20-12 overall as the No. 14 seed. The Trojans have won the past seven games including the last in the SBC Tournament final against Middle Tennessee 71-70 in overtime.
Overall for the Trojans, freshman Taylor Gault leads the team in points averaging 16.3 per game, while senior Marian Kursh averages a team-high 8.1 rebounds per contest.
Delaware enters the tournament 30-1 overall with the Blue Hens only loss at No. 5 Maryland. Delaware has won the past 20 games including the last in the finals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament as the Blue Hens won 59-43 over Drexel.
The Blue Hens won the team’s first-ever CAA title to gain the automatic berth. This is Delaware’s third appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history and first since 2007. The Hens have never recorded a post-season victory in eight appearances, including six WNIT berths.
Delaware is led by All-American Elle Delle Donne who averages team’s highs of 27.5 points and 10.3 rebounds. She also leads the nation in scoring.
“I’ve enjoyed watching film on her,” said Foley. “I just wish they were playing somebody else. But it’s fun to watch her play. To see some kind of talent like that, it’s very unusual. As long as I’ve been in coaching, I haven’t seen a player that can do as many things as she can. It’s fun in a way, but now it’s my turn to try and stop her, and not too many people have been able to do that this year, so we’ll see what happens.”
This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
Live broadcast of the game can be heard on KARN 920 AM with Phil Elson and Ron Jumper. ESPN 2 will be broadcasting the game live. Fans can also watch on ESPN Full Court and on ESPN3.com.