By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The University of Central Arkansas Sugar Bears make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Women's Elite 8 tonight.
The 9th-ranked Sugar Bears (28-5) face No. 2 ranked Bentley College (32-2) at 6 p.m.,at St. Joseph, Mo. Civic Arena.
The game holds particular interest for Tim and Lori Leslie of Forrest City.
Their daughter, Elise, is a 6-3 freshman center on the Sugar Bears' team.
UCA defeated rival and fifth-ranked Arkansas Tech 68-54, in the South Regional championship game earlier this month in Russellville to earn the trip to the Elite 8. The Sugar Bears are in the twilight of their best season ever.
Tech was undefeated at home this season (15-0) and had only lost 24 times in 25 years at Tucker Coliseum.
"This particular group of girls is the most courageous bunch of kids I've ever had," said UCA head coach Ron Marvel, the winningest women's coach in Arkansas history (468-195) "We've been held together by trainer's tape the past month. They had some good opportunities to quit but kept bouncing back. We played as good in the championship against Tech as we have all season. The girls wanted to prove they were as good or better than Tech and went out and did it."
Even though Leslie has not started a game for the Sugar Bears this season, she has seen some action.
"Basically, I'm what a lot of coaches refer to as a 'practice dummy,' which mean I'm used at practices on the scout team," Leslie said Sunday. "But I have managed to get some playing time in a few games this season."
Leslie usually gets the call when a starter gets into foul trouble or needs a breather.
Quite a change from her high school playing days at Lee Academy in Marianna.
UCA and Tech, located just 45 miles apart, played four times this season and ATU led the series 2-1, including a 14-point victory in the Gulf South Conference championship game eight days before the final round four game went to the Sugar Bears.
UCA led 33-24 at halftime on a long three-pointer by sophomore Carone Harris, of Bradley and then pulled away in the second half behind a 22-point performance by Harris, the South Region Player of the Year.
She added six rebounds, six assists and three steals and had no turnovers in 40 minutes of action against the nation's top-rated defense.
Guard Kristin Frase (Siloam Springs) is UCA's only senior and is best known more for her defense, put together the three best games of her career to earn the Most Outstanding Player award.
She scored 18, 17 and 13 points in the three victories after coming into the regional as the team's fifth-leading scorer, averaging just seven points per game.
Not bad for the one the UCA players call the team's inspirational leader. Frase is a former walk-on, who had to ask three times just to get a tryout. She is a key reason Central Arkansas is in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight tonight.
The third-ranked Bentley Lady Falcons have a storied women's basketball history.
The Lady Falcons have been to the NCAA Tournament a Division II record 21 times and have made it to the Elite Eight 10 times.
The Lady Falcons (32-2) have won 29 consecutive games.
The UCA-Bentley winner will face either South Dakota State or Cal State-Bakersfield in the Final Four at 8 p.m., Thursday.
The championship game is set for 5 p.m., Saturday.
Louisiana Tech is headed west, again.
After making numerous trips to the pacific time zone this year as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, the sixth-ranked Lady Techsters will head that way once again after downing Ohio State 74-61 at the Thomas Assembly Center Tuesday night.
The win sets up the eagerly awaited showdown with in-state school and SEC member LSU in the West Regional Semifinal in Palo Alto, Calif., Sunday.
The fifth-seeded Techsters (31-2) won their 29th straight game, extending the longest winning streak in the nation.
They also improved to 36-0 at home in the NCAA tournament. Whatever Budke said worked.
After a slow start against the Buckeyes (22-10), Tech hit high gear midway through the first half.
Trailing 27-20 after an Ohio State lay up 9:14 left in the opening half, Lady Techster head coach Kurt Budke called a time out to gather his troops.
Tech (31-2) put together a 13-0 run to take a 33-27 lead with 4:46 remaining and never trailed again.
Despite 6 of 7 shooting by Ohio State in the first half, Tech held a 45-39 halftime lead thanks in large part to the play of junior guard Amber Obaze who scored all 17 of her points in the opening stanza.
The Dallas, Texas, native, who hit 8 of 10 first half field goals, said she took what the Buckeye defense gave her.
In the second half, it was the Tech post players that took over as Cheryl Ford and Trina Frierson combining to score 20 of the Lady Techsters 29 points.
Ford ended the game with 25 points and 15 rebounds while Frierson added 18 points.
"Cheryl Ford showed you tonight why she is the MVP of our conference, and in my opinion, a Kodak All-American," Budke said.
Ford hit 8 of 11 field goals and 9 of 11 free throws while also recording three blocked shots.
DiDi Reynolds and Caity Matter led Ohio State with 16 points while Courtney Coleman added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
In other tournament games played Tuesday it was Connecticut 81, Texas Christian 66 and Notre Dame 59, Kansas State 53 in the East; Villanova 70, George Washington 57 and Penn State 77, South Carolina 67 in the Mideast; Duke 65, Utah 54 and Texas Tech 72, UC Santa Barbara 68 in the Midwest and in the West it was Texas 67, Arkansas 50.