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The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears is the women's basketball team representing the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway, Arkansas. The Sugar Bears compete in the NCAA Division I and have made appearances in the NAIA Division I, NCAA Division II, and WNIT tournaments. The team is coached by Tony Kemper, who leads a team of assistant coaches including Hailey Estes, Kaitlynn Pacholke, and Tanaeya BoClair.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Team Name | Central Arkansas Sugar Bears |
| University | University of Central Arkansas |
| Location | Conway, Arkansas |
| Division | NCAA Division I |
| Conference | ASUN Conference |
| Head Coach | Tony Kemper |
| Assistant Coaches | Hailey Estes, Kaitlynn Pacholke, Tanaeya BoClair |
| Previous Division II Appearances | Six appearances with a combined record of 8-4 (1996, 2003, 2004, and 2005) |
| Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Appearances | Five appearances |
| NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament Appearances | Two appearances with a combined record of 1-2 |
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What You'll Learn
The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears
The Sugar Bears have a rich history in women's basketball, with several tournament appearances to their name. At the NCAA Division I level, they have competed in two NCAA tournaments (2016 and 2017) and two WNIT tournaments (2012 and 2025), although they did not win any games in these tournaments. However, they found more success in the Women's Basketball Invitational tournament, participating in two tournaments (2011 and 2018) with a combined record of 3-2.
Prior to their move to Division I, the Sugar Bears competed in the NCAA Division II, where they had more success. They appeared in six NCAA Division II tournaments (1996, 2003-2005) with a combined record of 8-4. Additionally, they made five appearances in the NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament and two appearances in the NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament, showcasing their consistent qualification for postseason play.
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NCAA Division I
The University of Central Arkansas's women's basketball team, the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears, competes in NCAA Division I. The Sugar Bears represent the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway, Arkansas, and play in the ASUN Conference.
The Sugar Bears have had success in several basketball tournaments. They have competed in two WNIT tournaments, two Women's Basketball Invitational tournaments, and six NCAA Division II tournaments. In 2016 and 2017, the Sugar Bears competed in the NCAA Division I tournaments.
The team is coached by Head Coach Tony Kemper, alongside Assistant Coaches Hailey Estes, Kaitlynn Pacholke, and Tanaeya BoClair.
The University of Central Arkansas offers athletic scholarships for its women's basketball programme. Prospective recruits are encouraged to contact the university to obtain more information about the school and the women's basketball programme.
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NCAA Division II
The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears is the women's basketball team representing the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway, Arkansas. The Sugar Bears have competed in six NCAA Division II tournaments, making five appearances in the NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament. The team has a combined record of 8-4 from tournaments in 1996, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
The Sugar Bears have also competed in the NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament twice, with a combined record of 1-2. The team has had success in other tournaments, including the WNIT and the Women's Basketball Invitational.
At the NCAA Division I level, the Sugar Bears have competed in two NCAA tournaments in 2016 and 2017, with a combined record of 0-2. The team completed a 15-season tenure in the Southland Conference in 2020-21 and now competes in the ASUN Conference.
The University of Central Arkansas is a public college with a total enrollment of 6662 full-time undergraduate students. The school's athletics teams are nicknamed the Bears and don the colours purple and gray.
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NAIA Division I
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. It was established in 1940 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The association began sponsoring intercollegiate championships for women in 1980, offering championships across 27 sports, including basketball, cross country, gymnastics, and volleyball.
The NAIA has 21 member conferences, with 237 member institutions for the 2024-25 season, and over 83,000 student-athletes participating. It is the first association to admit colleges and universities from outside the United States, with two member institutions in British Columbia, Canada, and one in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
NAIA schools offer athletic scholarships to their student-athletes, with around $1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid awarded annually. The amount and type of scholarship offered may vary depending on the school's division level. NAIA schools measure success not just by game scores but also by their financial bottom lines. They typically have lower costs for sponsoring competitive athletics compared to NCAA Division I, II, or III levels.
The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) offers women's basketball as one of its athletic programs. While I cannot definitively state that UCA women's basketball is in NAIA Division I, the NAIA, in general, offers a diverse range of sports and has a strong commitment to providing character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
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ASUN Conference
The ASUN Conference, formerly known as the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference primarily operating in the Southeastern United States. It was initially established as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) in 1978 and was renamed the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001. From 2016 to 2023, it was briefly rebranded as the ASUN Conference. Despite the name change, the conference still uses "ASUN" as its official abbreviation.
Competing at the NCAA Division I level, the ASUN Conference has undergone several membership changes over the years. In the early 2010s, the conference lost Campbell and Belmont to other conferences and added Northern Kentucky University as a new member. In 2014, Mercer, one of the charter members, left the ASUN for the Southern Conference, although it continued to compete in ASUN beach volleyball and later added men's lacrosse to its affiliation. The conference expanded and contracted slowly through the mid-2010s, with the addition of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2015 and the departures of Northern Kentucky, East Tennessee State, and Mercer.
The ASUN Conference underwent a second rebranding in the late 2010s, dropping "Atlantic" from its name and becoming simply the ASUN Conference. During this period, the conference added new members, including the University of North Alabama from the Division II Gulf South Conference and Liberty University, previously from the Big South. Bellarmine University also joined from the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference, while the New Jersey Institute of Technology left for the America East Conference in 2020-21.
On July 1, 2023, the ASUN Conference expanded to 20 members. The conference merged with the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) to create a new Division I multisport conference. This merger resulted in the formation of two groups within the ASUN Conference: the ASUN 7 and the United Athletic Conference. The ASUN 7 included long-standing members such as Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, and Kennesaw State University, while the United Athletic Conference comprised Bellarmine University, Liberty University, and the University of North Alabama, among undisclosed schools that joined through expansion.
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Frequently asked questions
NCAA Division I.
The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears.
The ASUN Conference. They previously competed in the Southland Conference.
Two, with a combined record of 0-2.
Yes, they have competed in the WNIT, WBI, NAIA Division I, and NCAA Division II tournaments.
