CONWAY — Every game and every week is big when it comes to conference play, but this week could prove to be a pivotal one for Central Arkansas as the Sugar Bears return home for two games with divisional foes – including a rematch with the defending league champion.
Lamar, which defeated the Sugar Bears in the conference opener in Beaumont two weeks ago, makes its return trip to the Farris Center on Saturday looking to avenge a 92-77 defeat to the Sugar Bears in Conway last year.
But before the Sugar Bears can turn their attention to the Lady Cardinals, they must first deal with a feisty Nicholls team on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
"This is an important week for us," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. "Whenever you get a chance to protect the home floor – particularly with them being two divisional opponents – it makes for a huge week for us, no way around it. We need the campus community, the city of Conway and even the state to get behind us and get some fans in here and help us get all the support we can. If we're going to be a championship program we have to start presenting ourselves that way, and we need help in doing that."
The Sugar Bears (10-6, 2-1 Southland) are coming off a pair of victories last week over Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State, and are looking to improve on what is already their best start to conference play since joining the league. A chance to get to a 4-1 start with wins over three teams from within the division gives this week's games added significance as the league race begins to take shape.
"We're certainly looking to get two this week," Daniel said. "It's a battle every night and there's no telling how it will shake out at the end of the year, so every win is important. You can't take any of them for granted."
It might look on the surface that if there was one that could be taken for granted it would be the Lady Colonels, who have never won in Conway and come into the game with a 5-11 overall record and are winless at 0-3 in the league.
But to discount Nicholls based on its record would be a huge mistake.
"They haven't won a game in the league yet, but they're a very dangerous team," Daniel said. "They lost by three to Northwestern State, and we struggled pretty badly down there in the first half for sure. They also went to UTA and got beat by seven, and then lost to Sam Houston State who is one of only two undefeated teams in the league. So they haven't won yet, but they've been right there in their games and are ready to go get one."
Nicholls features a multi-faceted scoring attack that has four players averaging double figures, led by senior guard Ricshanda Bickham at 14.8 points per game. Last year Bickham lit the Sugar Bears up for 28 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 steals and three rebounds per game in the two meetings.
"She's a dangerous player, as we saw firsthand last season," Daniel said. "And they've added some parts around her. They're athletic all over the floor and they don't ever go away. They've fallen behind in games and fought back all the way until the end. There's no doubt it's going to be a 40-minute battle on Wednesday."
Freshman guard KK Babin is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and leads the team with 44 3-pointers, second in the league behind 46 by SFA's Tammara Marion.
Alisha Allen, a 5-foot-11 sophomore forward, averaged 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds against the Sugar Bears last season and is putting up 11.4 and 5.7 for Nicholls this season.
Sumar Leslie, a 5-7 transfer guard from Louisiana-Monroe, is the Lady Colonels' third-leading scorer at 12.2 per game and leads the team with a 36.7 3-point percentage and shoots 82.1 percent from the free throw line.
"Babin gives them another scorer and 3-point shooter and has helped them tremendously," Daniel said. "Leslie is from just up the road in Houma and has come home and is playing with a lot of pride and making a difference. We saw Allen last year and she was able to have some success against us as well. They've got a lot of weapons and we've got to come out prepared for every one of them. I'm definitely thankful we get them at home first."
UCA comes into the game riding a bit of a high after a pair of victories last week. After registering their first-ever win over SFA last Wednesday by 12, the Sugar Bears hit the road and scored their most lopsided win ever over Northwestern State – beating the Lady Demons 70-52.
"I don't think we're at our full stride yet, but we're definitely out of our warm-up," Daniel said. "We're playing well but we can still play better. We've got to take care of business, especially at home, and figure out a way to get into the conference tournament. Once you get there anything can happen. But in order to get there it's important to protect the home floor and we certainly can't afford to give any away."
