FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas and UALR are both in the WNIT field announced Monday night, but they’re as far apart in the 64-team bracket as possible.
The Razorbacks and Trojans can’t play until the championship game,meaning each team would have to win five games in order for the in-state match up to happen.
Arkansas (19-12, 6-10 SEC), which has a policy of not scheduling in-state schools, will open WNIT play against Memphis (17-14, 8-8 Conference USA) at 7 p.m. Thursday in Walton Arena.
UALR (24-8), which is making its sixth consecutive postseason appearance under Coach Joe Foley, will play at Great West member Pacific (25-7) in Stockton, Calif., on Friday. The time of the game will be announced today.
The driving distance from Little Rock to Stockton, according to Google Maps, is 1,915 miles, the third-farthest possible destination for the Trojans.
The closest school to UALR hosting a first-round game is Arkansas. It is 190 miles from Little Rock to Fayetteville, according to Google Maps.
Arkansas, which played in the NCAA Tournament last season, is making its sixth WNIT appearance and third in Coach Tom Collen’s six seasons. The Razorbacks, who won the WNIT title in 1999 and have an 11-3 all-time record, also played in the tournament in 2000, 20001, 2009 and 2011.
Arkansas hasn’t played an in-state school in women’s basketball since the 2005 WNIT, when Arkansas State beat the Razorbacks 98-84 in Jonesboro.
“We are excited to be participating in the postseason again this year,” Collen said.
The Arkansas-Memphis winner will play the winner of Tulane-Sam Houston State in the second round. The site will be determined after the first-round games.
Tickets for the Arkansas-Memphis game will be $11 for reserved seats, $7 for general admission, $6 for youth and $1 for UA students.
UALR knew it would be making its third trip to the WNIT when it lost to Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final March 11. The Trojans earned the Sun Belt’s automatic bid as its highest-finishing team not to be selected to the NCAA Tournament.
But its first-round opponent and location were a bit of a surprise. The Trojans, who are 0-2 in their previous WNIT appearances, have never played Pacific and have never played a game in California. If they win, they’ll play the winner of the Washington-Eastern Washington game in the second round.
UALR lost at Southern Mississippi 67-57 in the 2008 WNIT and to Murray State 67-57 in 2009 at the Jack Stephens Center.
Pacific, which won the Big West regular-season title, lost to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in the Big West title game and is 13-2 this season at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The Tigers will be making their second consecutive WNIT appearance, after beating Arizona State in the the first round in Stockton last season, and losing at San Diego in the second round.
Information for this article was contributed by Troy Schulte of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Who’s in SEC
Arkansas (18-12) Missouri (17-14) Auburn (16-14) SUN BELT UALR (24-8) Western Kentucky (21-10) Florida International (19-12) SOUTHLAND Sam Houston State (18-14) SWAC Texas Southern (20-11)
WNIT at a glance
FIRST ROUND All times TBA
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Utah at Long Beach State UCSB at San Diego State Idaho State at BYU Eastern Illinois at Missouri UAB at Auburn
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Memphis at Arkansas Hawaii at San Diego Seattle at Saint Mary’s (Calif.) Northern Colorado at Wyoming Texas Southern at Kansas State IUPUI at Illinois State Butler at Toledo Indiana State at Youngstown State Miami OH at Illinois East Carolina at Western Kentucky Sam Houston State at Tulane Iona at Drexel Harvard at Hartford SMU at Bowling Green State Akron at Duquesne Sacred Heart at Boston University Army at Fordham No. Carolina A&T at James Madison Richmond at North Carolina State Davidson at Old Dominion Appalachian State at Charlotte Florida at Florida International Winthrop at Florida Gulf Coast
FRIDAY’S GAMES
UALR at Pacific Eastern Washington at Washington Ball State at Minnesota Northern Iowa at Marquette
At a glance All times Central
THURSDAY’S GAME
Memphis at Arkansas, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY’S GAME
UALR at Pacific, TBA
Sports, Pages 17 on 03/19/2013