NASSAU, Bahamas — After beginning Wednesday night's game against Georgia Tech with a slow start, Central Arkansas showed its resiliency and bounced back to win the final 38 minutes against the Yellow Jackets.

Unfortunately for the Sugar Bears, that early 8-0 deficit provided the Yellow Jackets with just enough of a cushion to escape with a 67-61 victory that wasn't decided until the final possessions.

UCA (8-3) trailed by just four, 65-61, in the waning moments and had the ball in the hands of junior forward Megan Herbert, who had been dominant all evening as she scored 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting and had 16 rebounds – leading all players in both categories.

Herbert made a move to the basket and dropped in a shot that would have cut the UCA deficit in half, but as the ball fell through the net she was whistled for a traveling violation that negated the basket and put the ball back into the hands of the Yellow Jackets (9-3).

Georgia Tech's Metra Walthour made both free throws and time ran out on the Sugar Bears as they narrowly missed toppling the nation's No. 27 team and getting their first-ever win against an ACC opponent.

"I kinda feel like we won the game, honestly," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. "They had a day off coming into this game, and we had played 20 hours before. And then with only 20 minutes basically to warm up, it was an awfully quick turnaround for us. This felt like a home event for them. But even with all that, I was really pleased with how we battled and stuck together. We got down 15 and fought back. A year ago we might not have done that. I think we've grown up and we showed a lot of maturity. I'm not pleased with the outcome, but very pleased with how we fought."

After beginning the game with an 8-0 deficit, the Sugar Bears stormed back with an 18-4 run to take a six-point lead halfway through the first period. Georgia Tech countered with 15-3 run to grab a six-point advantage of their own, and eventually stretched it to as many as 13 before the Sugar Bears cut it to 38-30 at the half.

The Sugar Bears began the second half about as well as they could have hoped, getting a four-point play in the first minute when Westin Taylor was fouled by LaQuananisha Adams on a 3-point basket to cut the Yellow Jacket lead in half.

Eight straight points by the Yellow Jackets pushed the lead back to 12, and it eventually peaked at 15 at the 12:07 mark on a 3-pointer by Walthour to make the score 52-37.

UCA consistently chipped away at the lead, and got it to four at 61-57 with 1:58 remaining on a driving layup by Nakeia Guiden.

After creating a turnover on the defensive end, the Sugar Bears came back down with a chance to make it a one-possession game. Courtney Duever had a good look on a 3-point attempt from the top of the key, but it rimmed out and the Yellow Jackets regained possession. They took full advantage as Walthour knocked down one of her three 3-pointers to extend the lead back to seven with 56 seconds remaining.

On UCA's next trip down the floor, freshman Sharlay Burris missed a runner in the paint, but Duever was there for the stickback to get it to five with 38 ticks left.

After Sasha Goodlett made one of two free throws, Duever scored again to trim the Sugar Bear deficit to 65-61. UCA immediately fouled and Tyaunna Marshall missed both. It was on the ensuing possession that Herbert was called for the walk, essentially ending the Sugar Bears' hopes of completing the comeback.

The win for Georgia Tech, which came in at No. 27 in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, was their first of the season by single digits, as their previous eight wins had come by an average of more than 32 points per game with five being by more than 30 points and none closer than 11.

The difference came largely on turnovers, where the Yellow Jackets forced the Sugar Bears into 24 and turned those into 24 points. UCA had 19 points off 17 Tech turnovers.

Thanks largely to Herbert's 16, the Sugar Bears outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 38-30 despite Tech playing six players taller than UCA's tallest – Duever, who added four rebounds to go with her 11 points (all of which came in the second half).

The Sugar Bears head into their break sitting at 8-3, with games in the Farris Center against UAPB and Philander Smith remaining before the start of Southland Conference play in January.

"I think, despite the loss, this is a good way to go into our break," Daniel said. "We're 8-3, we just fought our tails off and we'll take that with us into Christmas break. We'll come back and prepare for UAPB and Philander Smith, then get ready for the league. I like where we're at, and I believe in this group. We've grown and shown some maturity – although we did have a couple discipline problems and didn't dress a couple kids. But we'll get that worked out and try to help these kids grow on and off the floor."