CONWAY — Longtime Delta State coach Sandra Rushing, who has compiled more than 400 wins and numerous accolades in her 23-year head coaching career that has spanned every division of NCAA basketball, has been selected to succeed Matt Daniel as head coach of the Central Arkansas women's basketball program. Daniel accepted the same position at Marshall University earlier in the week.
"I appreciate what Coach Daniel and the women's basketball staff have done for our program," said Dr. Brad Teague, UCA Director of Athletics. "It is in fine shape for our future. You always want to leave jobs in better position than you found them in, and Coach Daniel certainly did that for UCA.
"Coach Sandra Rushing has been a head coach since she was 25," Teague said. "She has over 10 years of experience at a Division I program and 10 years at the top Division II program in the country. She is a winner and doesn't accept anything but success. Coach Rushing is a tireless recruiter and is committed to molding young women to success on and off the court. She will thrive at UCA as a coach and person. She will enjoy the atmosphere among all our athletics staff and support the other sports as they will do the same for her program."
Rushing, who inherits a Sugar Bear program coming off a Southland Conference championship and three straight seasons of 21 or more wins, put together a 254-58 (.814) record in 10 seasons at Division II powerhouse Delta State in Cleveland, Miss. and guided the Lady Statesmen to two Final Fours, six Gulf South Conference championships and six straight Sweet 16 appearances from 2006-2011.
She was named the Gulf South Conference West Division Coach of the Decade in 2010, won the GSC Coach of the Year award a league-record six times and was the WBCA Region 5 Coach of the Year in 2011. She was also highly successful in defending the home floor – going 132-9 (.936) at Delta State including a 64-game winning streak from 2007-2011.
After a 15-12 campaign in 2004-05, Rushing's teams at DSU averaged more than 28 wins per season over the next seven years, posting an incredible 198-30 (.868) record during that period. She had three teams reach the 30-win plateau, including a 33-1 season in '07-'08 with the only loss coming in the national semifinal.
"We are excited to have someone with over 20 years of extreme success in coaching and one whom I know and have worked with," Teague said. "Coach Rushing will commit all of her time and effort into the success of Sugar Bear basketball and we are excited and fortunate to have her talents at UCA."
She takes over a UCA team that returns five seniors, including two-time Southland Conference Player of the Year Megan Herbert, and eight players who saw action for last season's 24-7 league champion team that made its second straight national postseason tournament with the program's first berth in the WNIT.
Prior to Delta State, Rushing spent one season at Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Ark. in 2001-02, taking a program that had suffered through six consecutive losing seasons to a 13-13 mark.
In addition to her tremendous Division II success, Rushing brings many years of Division I experience to UCA as well, having spent 11 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference as the head coach at University of Texas-El Paso from 1990-2001. During her time in El Paso, Rushing accumulated what was then a program-record 123 wins, broke the school record for wins in a season, and was inducted into the El Paso Commission for Women Hall of Fame in 1999.
She began her head coaching career with one season at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. in 1989-90 after two years as a graduate assistant at Delta State the two years prior.
Rushing played collegiately at Alabama, where she was a four-time Academic All-SEC selection and holds the Crimson Tide's career free throw percentage record. She earned her Bachelor's of Science in Physical Education from Alabama in 1986 before getting her Master's of Science in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from Delta State two years later.
