CONWAY — A first-half 3-point barrage and a 27-point, 18-rebound outing from Megan Herbert was more than Stephen F. Austin could withstand on Wednesday as Central Arkansas jumped to a big lead in the first half and cruised to a 78-66 win over the Ladyjacks.
"I'm pleased with the win, it's a good win for us," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel, whose team won for the first time in seven tries against SFA. "Stephen F. Austin has never been beaten by a basketball team, men or women, at UCA and this is a team that likes to do firsts and set records and be noted for those kinds of things. It's good to finally break through and get a win against them, but it's early in the year and we still need to go get a lot more."
The Sugar Bears (9-6, 1-1 Southland) hit 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from outside in the first half, led by Micah Rice's 4-for-4, and shot 60 percent overall as they built a lead as big as 16 in the opening period before taking a 46-35 lead into the locker room.
"It was big to start off the way," Daniel said. "But we knew it wouldn't last. We shot unbelievably in the first half. We went in at half and told them that we can't rely on shots to keep falling like that, and we've got to sit down and guard. Until late in the game when we got tired and they just started driving, I thought we did a pretty good job."
The Ladyjacks (4-11, 1-1) never got closer than 10 and trailed by double figures for the game's final 27:45. After SFA had cut the UCA lead to 10 at 60-50 with 12:57 remaining, the Sugar Bears responded with a 10-2 run to go ahead 70-52 on a pair of free throws from junior guard Nakeia Guiden with 9:03 to play for their biggest lead of the game. The margin barely shifted over the next several minutes as UCA led 74-57 with just under three minutes to play, but the Ladyjacks held a 9-4 scoring edge down the stretch as the Sugar Bears settled into stall mode on the offensive end.
"We were focused and executed our game plan for the most part," Daniel said. "We're going to set ourselves up for success when we do those things. I was pleased with the offensive execution and the defensive effort, but more than anything I'm pleased that the team is playing with a common goal."
The Sugar Bears finished with 12 3-pointers for the game, shooting 12-of-22 (54.5 percent). Rice, who finished with a season-high 19 points following an 18-point performance at Lamar on Saturday, led the way by shooting 5-of-8. Guiden, who had a season-high 18 points, was 2-for-3.
Herbert, whose 27 points and 18 rebounds led all players and were season highs in both categories, also hit 2-of-4. Herbert's seven offensive rebounds matched the SFA team total as the Sugar Bears won the rebounding battle 32-26. She is now averaging 29.3 points and 16.3 rebounds in three career games against the Ladyjacks.
Guiden and Destinee Rogers each had six assists for the Sugar Bears, with Guiden also recording a game-high four steals. SFA had just three as a team.
SFA was led in scoring by senior forward Jordan Ford's 17. Ebony Alexander added 14 and Tammara Marion – the league's leading scorer at 17.4 points per game – had 13.
The win marked the 22nd at home for the Sugar Bears since the start of last season, having gone 22-3 during that span including a 15-1 mark last season.
