After splitting against Hendrix and Alabama to open the season last weekend, the Sugar Bears travel to Morehead, Ky. for three games this weekend in the Comfort Inn & Suites Classic at Morehead State.
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The action begins for the Sugar Bears tonight at
6 p.m. CST against the host school, with games at
4:00 Saturday afternoon against Norfolk State and at
11 a.m. on Sunday against Houston Baptist.
The first opponent is an Eagles squad that has gotten off to an 0-2 start under 28 year-old, first-year head coach Tom Hodges after going 22-8 a year ago under Mike Bradbury, who has since become the head coach at Wright State.
Hodges' squad has had a rough go of it early on, losing by a combined score of 173-76, though the defeats were at the hands of No. 9 Kentucky and No. 12 Notre Dame. The Irish defeated the Eagles 91-28 and held Morehead to 17 percent shooting for the game and led 40-7 at halftime.
The Eagles are led by reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Chynna Bozeman, a 5-10 senior guard who led the nation in 3-pointers made last season with 121. Westin Taylor led UCA last season with 74. Bozeman's 121 3-pointers ranks as the 4th-best season total in NCAA Division I history. Last season Bozeman averaged 19.6 points per game and is averaging 14 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals so far this season.
Saturday's game pits the Sugar Bears against the Spartans of Norfolk State the first meeting between the two programs. The Spartans enter the weekend 1-0, having scored a 68-44 win in the season opener over Division II St. Paul's College. Freshman Rachel Gordon had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals in the win.
The Spartans are led by second-year head coach Debra Clark, who went 4-24 last season in her first year at the Norfolk helm. She is 216-217 in her 16th season overall. The Spartans went 0-16 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season.
Sunday's opponent will be one a little more familiar to the Sugar Bears, as they have met up with the Huskies each of the past two seasons. The first meeting, at Houston in December of 2008, was a 66-61 win for the Huskies. HBU scored 66 against last season in Conway – however, the Sugar Bears exploded for 106 in the 40-point victory.
In that win, the Sugar Bears had five players in double figures led by Megan Herbert's 31. She and Desiree' Rogers each recorded double-doubles, with Herbert adding 12 rebounds and Rogers going for 20 points and 10 rebounds. Britney Gowans tossed in 16 points, Nakeia Guiden had 12 and Westin Taylor added 10. Gowans blocked eight shots in the game.
The Huskies are off to an 0-2 start after losing to Louisville and TCU by a combined score of 196-72. They also suffered a 73-58 exhibition loss to Henderson State in the preseason. In the season opener at TCU, a 96-38 loss, the Huskies were outscored 49-12 in the first half and were held to 27.5 percent shooting for the game while committing 28 turnovers.
They followed that up with a 100-36 loss at Louisville. After trailing 57-26 at the half, the Huskies were outscored 43-8 in the second period and shot just 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) from the field over the final 20 minutes. Through two games they are yet to have a player reach double figures in scoring, and leading scorer Tia Jackson is averaging 6.5 per game.