CONWAY — When the University of Central Arkansas women’s basketball team plays Texas today in the NCAA Women’s Tournament, senior guard Maggie Proffitt’s grandparents are expected in the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
“They better not throw it up before we get there,” said Martin Harpole, Proffitt’s grandfather before he and his wife arrived in Austin on Thursday evening from their home in West Point, Miss., which is about 690 miles away.
Central Arkansas women vs. Texas
WHEN 1:30 p.m. Central
WHERE Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
RECORDS Central Arkansas 26-4; Texas 23-8 TV ESPN2
RADIO KUCA-FM, 91.3, in Conway
TEAM COMPARISON
UCA Texas 69.1 Points for 73.8 52.2 Points against 61.5 +6.7 Rebound margin +10.2 +2.7 Turnover margin +1.5 47.4 FG pct. 44.8 35.2 3-pt. pct. 34.8 69.6 FT pct. 66.3
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Maggie Proffitt, 5-7, Sr. 15.6 3.0 G Brianna Mullins, 5-6, Sr. 8.2 4.5 G Taylor Sells, 5-7, Fr. 2.5 2.0 F Raquel Logan, 6-1, Sr. 6.0 5.9 F Taylor Baudoin, 5-11, Jr. 11.8 6.1 COACH Sandra Rushing (507-304 overall)
TEXAS
POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Brooke McCarty, 5-4, Jr. 14.0 3.5 G Brianna Taylor, 5-9, Sr. 5.0 4.4 G Ariel Atkins, 5-11, Jr. 13.0 4.2 F Joyner Holmes, 6-3, Fr. 11.9 8.2 C Kelsey Lang, 6-5, Sr. 9.3 7.6 COACH Karen Aston (213-117 overall)
CHALK TALK This is Central Arkansas’ second NCAA Tournament appearance while it is Texas’ 30th. Texas is one of four Division I women’s programs to make 30 or more appearances (Tennessee 36, Georgia 32, Stanford 31). … The Sugar Bears lost to Louisville 87-60 in their first NCAA Tournament appearance last season. … UCA has won 17 consecutive, tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in the nation. … Texas Coach Karen Aston is a native of Bryant and played college basketball at Ouachita Baptist and UALR. She coached at Vilonia (1988-1993) and Fort Smith Northside (1993-1994) before entering the college ranks.
Martin and his wife Sandra Harpole have attended 121 of Proffitt’s 123 games in four seasons with the Sugar Bears, who have won two consecutive Southland Conference Tournaments. They missed the Lamar game Jan. 13, 2015, because Sandra Harpole’s mother Jeffie Hester was ill. UCA lost that game 82-46 in Beaumont, Texas.
Then, on Feb. 10, 2016, Martin Harpole had surgery in Mississippi to receive a pacemaker and missed the Sugar Bears’ home game against Northwestern (La.) State in Conway. The Sugar Bears lost 60-56, but the Harpoles flew to San Antonio for the Feb. 13 game against Incarnate Word which UCA won 76-57.
Sandra Harpole said she and her husband traveled more than 17,000 miles during the 2015-2016 season and flew for two games. This season, they’ve traveled more than 15,000 miles and have flown to three games.
It’s also been quite the journey for Proffitt at UCA.
A first-team All-Southland Conference selection, Proffitt leads UCA in scoring
(15.6 points per game) and has shot a career-best 41.9 percent (165 of 394) from the floor. She leads the team with 67 three-pointers made.
When Proffitt was recruited to UCA, Sugar Bears Coach Sandra Rushing had not seen her play in person, but on film and liked what she saw. In 2013, Proffitt shot 46 percent from three-point range at Starkville (Miss.) Academy, then earned a scholarship to UCA before the 2013-2014 season.
“Maggie was a tremendous shooter,” Rushing said. “We knew that. She came in with her shot. My job was to teach her defense. She came in with the talent.
“We went after Brianna Mullins, Raquel Logan and Maggie. Logan was inside. Mullins runs the point. Maggie was our shooter. That’s how you start, then you build around it.”
Proffitt admitted that she never heard of UCA before being recruited by the Sugar Bears, but trusted Rushing’s resume and has appreciated being in Conway over the past four years.
“I knew she was a winner,” Proffitt said of Rushing. “She won at Delta State. She had a rough season her first year.
“But she promised me and Bri Mullins our freshman year that we were going to win a championship. It was hard for those first two years. But we stuck it out.
“She was right. We’re hanging banners.”
Proffitt led Starkville Academy to a 43-0 record and a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools overall state championship in her senior season (2012-2013). She will play in her 124th college basketball game today and in her second NCAA Tournament game.
Her grandfather continues to be proud of her success as she nears the end of her collegiate career.
“It’s been great,” Martin Harpole said. “I can’t think of anything better.”