Texas A&M has a tradition of postseason success.
The sixth-seeded Aggies have been to the NCAA Tournament 10 consecutive seasons and advanced to the Elite Eight last year. Four Aggies who will play in today's game against UALR have played in six tournament games.
No. 11 UALR (28-4) is banking on two early victories over NCAA Tournament teams and its 2012 appearance in the tournament balancing the scales when the teams meet at 3 p.m. Central today at Wells Fargo Arena.
UALR beat LSU 70-54 in the season opener in Baton Rouge, then beat Oklahoma 66-62 on Dec. 14 in Little Rock. LSU and Oklahoma received at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, giving the 11th-seeded Trojans a bit of a confidence boost heading into today's game against No. 6 Texas A&M (23-9).
The Trojans' run last week through the Sun Belt Tournament to earn an automatic berth doesn't hurt, either.
"We're proud of what we did then," senior guard Taylor Gault said. "We're building off what we did in the tournament and knowing what we can do defensively. We're trying to carry that over until tomorrow's game."
Texas A&M has lost to LSU, which is a No. 11 seed in the tournament, twice in the past two weeks while trying to make up for the loss of Jordan Jones, who tore an ACL on Feb. 26.
Gault and fellow senior Kiera Clark said they are better prepared for the NCAA Tournament than the last time UALR made it there, when the Trojans lost 73-42 to Delaware during their freshman season.
"We're just building off that with knowing what to expect in the tournament," Gault said. "We didn't have a good NCAA Tournament our freshman year, so that gives us more drive and makes us more hungry to see what we can do as seniors."
Cobbins questionable
Coach Joe Foley said earlier this week that Ka'Nesheia Cobbins is one of the biggest reasons his team has reached the NCAA Tournament.
The senior guard watched practice from the sideline Friday.
Cobbins turned her left ankle during Thursday's practice, Foley said. Cobbins sat on the bench while a trainer worked on her left ankle during the first 15 minutes of the practice open to reporters.
Foley said he's hopeful Cobbins, the Sun Belt Conference's defensive player of the year, will be able to play today.
"She's struggling," Foley said. "We're going to have to just wait and see. Really don't know. I'm hoping she gets out there and the adrenaline starts pumping and it kind of goes away awhile. It's not good."
Not important
If UALR beats Texas A&M, Coach Joe Foley will earn his 700th victory in a career that began in 1987 at Arkansas Tech, which was a member of the NAIA at the time.
Foley, who is 243-130 in 12 seasons at UALR, said he isn't interested in the milestone.
"We win tomorrow, that will be the biggest [victory] of my life," he said. "It won't be because it's 700, either."
Missed that one
Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair spent part of Friday's news conference complimenting UALR's guards.
He called Ka'Nesheia Cobbins, Taylor Gault and Alexius Dawn, all of whom were named first- or second-team All-Sun Belt, "SEC guards" and singled out Gault.
The senior from Conway is second on UALR's career scoring charts at 1,938 career points and is averaging 15.5 points per game this season.
"She's one that the rest of us all in the SEC -- well, I was in the Big 12 then -- missed out on. [UALR Coach Joe Foley] did a good job of keeping her at home. She could play or start for most SEC teams."
Sports on 03/21/2015