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Ark.-Little Rock-Georgia Tech Preview

Mar 20, 2010 - 11:17 PM Arkansas-Little Rock (26-6) at Georgia Tech (23-9), 7:16 p.m. EDT

Arkansas-Little Rock (26-6), seeded 11th, will play sixth-seeded Georgia Tech (23-9) in another first-round game in Norman.

UALR had a 21-game winning streak snapped with a 70-68 overtime loss to Middle Tennessee State in the Sun Belt Conference tournament title game but the Trojans still received the program's first NCAA tournament berth.

During that streak, the Trojans outscored their opponents by an average of 20 points per game. They are led by Division I's fourth-leading scorer, junior forward Chastity Reed, who averages 25.3 points per game.

"The women's side is getting more competitive every year," said UALR coach Joe Foley, who won two NAIA titles while coaching at Arkansas Tech. "They recognize how good mid-majors can be, how much more level the playing field is getting to be. ... I don't care who we play, if you win 21 straight you have to have focus and have some dedication and I think our kids know that."

Georgia Tech received its highest NCAA tournament seed ever. The Yellow Jackets are making their fourth straight tournament appearance under coach MaChelle Joseph. They reached the second round last season before losing to Oklahoma but have never advanced further.

"We expect it every year now," senior forward Brigitte Ardossi said of making the tournament. "Each year our goal is to get further and further. This year we really put an emphasis on that and our focus has been making it past two games."