Tuesday, March 13Schedule strength helps Razorbacks
Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas women's basketball coach Gary Blair credits his team's performance in the Southeastern Conference tournament and its non-conference schedule with getting the Razorbacks into the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas (19-12) got an at-large bid Sunday and is the ninth seed in the West Regional. The Razorbacks face Baylor (21-8) on Saturday in a game to be played at Durham, N.C. The following Monday, the winner of that game will play the winner of the second game the day before, between host Duke (28-3) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (19-10). At the SEC tournament, Arkansas reached the semifinals for the first time in school history. Blair said a high ranking in the ratings percentage index also probably played a role in getting the at-large bid. "We got rewarded for our strength of schedule," Blair said. "There were teams from the other power conferences that did not get in that had winning conference records, but they did not take on the teams that we faced." Arkansas tied for sixth place in the SEC this year with a 6-8 league record. Blair said Baylor is not an unknown quantity. "We know their personnel, both their players and coaches, and they know us," Blair said. "We've played them the last few years, and this will be exciting." In their last meeting, at Waco, Texas, two years ago, Arkansas emerged an 80-69 winner. Over the course of a 25-game history, Arkansas leads 20-5. Under first-year coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Baylor came back this year with a winning season after going 7-20 last year. If Arkansas wins its first two games, the Razorbacks would play in the West Regional semifinals at Spokane, Wash.
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