An air horn blared, the brass section brayed with the clash of a cymbal, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock women's basketball team hauled their bags through the tunnel of pom-poms and homemade signs toward the charter buses.
"NCAA BOUND," one sign read.
No. 14 UALR vs. No. 3 FLORIDA STATE
WHEN 10 a.m. Central, Saturday
WHERE Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Fla.
RECORDS UALR 23-9; Florida State 25-6
SERIES RECORD First meeting
COACHES Joe Foley (312-162 in 15th season at UALR, 768-243 overall in 30th season); Sue Semrau (404-239 in 21st season at Florida State and overall)
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in Little Rock
TV ESPN2
The Trojans were.
Thursday morning, UALR departed for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2014-2015 season, when the Trojans beat No. 6 Texas A&M 69-60 in Tempe, Ariz., before losing 57-54 to Arizona State in the second round.
UALR was a No. 11 seed then, and had the Trojans beaten Arizona State, they would have faced Florida State for the first time. The Seminoles then defeated Arizona State 66-65 to advance to the Elite Eight.
Instead, the first meeting with the Seminoles comes this season, when No. 14 seed UALR (23-9) plays No. 3 seed Florida State (25-6) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 10 a.m.Central on Saturday at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla.
There are no apparent connections between the programs' coaches and players, and UALR Coach Joe Foley said he's never even been to the Florida State campus.
"Matter of fact, I think I've only been in Tallahassee one time in my life, and that was to a junior college tournament," said Foley, who began coaching at Oxford High in 1979, Arkansas Tech University in 1984 and UALR in 2003. "So, I haven't even been in their gym."
The top four seeds in each region host the first- and second-round games in their section of the bracket, and Florida State has now hosted the opening rounds in three of the last four seasons.
The Seminoles are 4-0 in those home tournament games, and they reached the Elite Eight last season before losing 71-64 to eventual champion South Carolina.
UALR is 12-4 on the road this season, and Florida State is 13-1 at home, losing 100-69 on Jan. 28 to Notre Dame (29-3), which earned the tournament's No. 1 overall seed.
"Heck yeah [it makes a difference playing at home]," said Foley, whose Trojans were 13-1 at the Jack Stephens Center. "Anytime you get to play on your home floor -- you've seen what we've done on our home floor. So, it makes a difference. But that's part of the women's game right now."
UALR players were not available for interviews, and freshman guard Terion Moore led the line of players toward the buses.
Moore injured her right ankle in the first quarter of the 66-63 victory over Troy in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals, invoking Foley to call her a "warrior" when she returned in the second quarter to lead the Trojans on a 19-6 run.
She played 28 minutes of the 54-54 championship victory over Texas State on Sunday, recording four assists and four rebounds.
"She's getting better," Foley said. "[The ankle's] still a little tender, but it's getting better."
Sports on 03/16/2018