CONWAY — Welcome back, Westin Taylor.
The Central Arkansas junior forward, in her first game back after an ACL tear late last season, drilled 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the second half to propel the Sugar Bears to a 58-46 season-opening win over Indiana in front of a school record crowd of 3,450 in the Farris Center Friday night.
"That was a great win in front of a great crowd and a tremendous way to start off the season," said fourth-year head coach Matt Daniel. "I don't know what's going to happen down the line, but right now the Sugar Bears are 1-0."
UCA (1-0) got off to a slow start and trailed 22-18 at the half, but outscored the Hoosiers (0-1) 40-24 in the second period on the strength of 61.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line – going 8-for-13, the bulk of it coming from Taylor.
"We battled," Daniel said. "We knew the game wasn't going to get out of hand either way because of the way Indiana plays. We picked up the tempo, got into the teeth of the defense and things opened up. We had a great shooter in the corner and she did a good job."
After missing the final 10 games of last season and much of the summer recovering from an ACL tear, Taylor did not see the floor in the first half of Friday night's game. She made the most of her return in the second half, posting her game-high 15 points in 17 minutes to lead the Sugar Bears to their first-ever victory over a team from a BCS conference.
"Watching last year's conference tournament from Conway, watching the WBI from the bench, it was amazing and I loved being a part of that – but nothing compares to my first game back here tonight," Taylor said. "It was great for me and a reassurance that I still can play, but more importantly it's an even better win for our team to come out and beat Indiana in front of that crowd."
Taylor missed her first two, then connected on her next five.
"My teammates talked me back into it, said 'you're in it, you're good, keep shooting'," she said. "I finally hit one and as soon as I hit it, [Destinee Rogers] came to me and said 'keep shooting it – I'm giving you the ball 'til they won't let me'."
UCA forced the Hoosiers into 19 turnovers and committed only 10, turning the Indiana miscues into 16 points. Senior guard Nakeia Guiden, who added 12 points, led all players with three steals. Rogers had a game-high six assists.
The Sugar Bears had an 11-point advantage at the free-throw line, going 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) while IU was just 1-for-5 (20 percent). The Hoosiers were also limited from the outside, hitting just one of their three 3-point attempts.
Sasha Chaplin had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, while Jasmine McGhee added 12 and eight.
The Sugar Bears host Alabama at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night in a rematch from last year's meeting won 87-76 by the Tide in Tuscaloosa.
