CONWAY — After putting up 25 points and 20 rebounds at Nicholls on Wednesday, Central Arkansas sophomore forward Megan Herbert was held in check on Saturday as Southeastern Louisiana limited the Southland Conference's leading scorer and rebounder well below her season averages with just 11 points and three rebounds.
It proved to be no problem for the Sugar Bears, however, as junior guard Nakeia Guiden responded by going perfect from both the field (6 for 6) and free throw line (9 for 9) en route to a season-high 21 points to lead UCA to a 79-61 win in front of 1,831 on WBCA Pink Zone day at the Farris Center.
"I'm never satisfied, but I'm happy with the effort we gave today," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. "I knew if we'd be disciplined and bring energy that we'd have a chance to win the game and that's what we did. That's why we shot a good percentage from the field, got the stops we needed to get and shot free throws the way we did. You can tell when you're that focused that all those things carry over and we were able to do that today."
The Sugar Bears (17-10, 9-5 Southland) put together a 17-5 run midway through the first half to take a 29-13 lead and steadily pulled away from there. After taking a 40-25 halftime lead, UCA pushed it to 20 five minutes into the second half and continued to distance itself from the Lady Lions (12-14, 4-10) – eventually building the advantage to 30 on a layup from Desiree' Rogers to make it 75-45 with 5:07 remaining.
Southeastern closed it out with a 16-4 run against the UCA reserves, with the Sugar Bears getting no field goals and four free throws – all from senior center Megan Moss – over the final five minutes.
"We turned the ball over less," Daniel said of the Sugar Bears, who had 15 turnovers after averaging 24 in the previous three games. "And we were probably as patient as we have been on offense and scored 79 points. We knocked down free throws, took care of the ball, knocked down open shots and defended. Southeastern Louisiana shot a high percentage, but they were getting a lot of good looks and we defended them well. I thought we played a great game defensively, despite their high shooting percentage, and only gave up 61 points."
Guiden's 21 points, one off her career high, led all players. Rogers added 12, her highest total in Southland play this season, and Herbert and freshman center Courtney Duever each had 11. Duever also added four rebounds, two assists and a team-high four steals in 18 minutes. Herbert had four assists to lead all players. Neither Herbert or Duever committed a turnover.
"Nakeia had a really good game," Daniel said. "She did a great job defensively on their point guard and took her out of the game on both ends of the floor, which allows us to be more successful. Meg has 11 points and three rebounds and it's not too often she's like thatBut this is that time of year when it's great to get a lift from Nakeia, Desiree', Courtney played well and Britney Gowans played really well. I took my hat off to Meg – she had no turnovers and led us in assists which is not like her."
Rashima Jenkins, Southeastern's leading scorer at 10.6 points per game, was held to four on 1-for-4 shooting. Chelsea Hix, the Lady Lions' leading 3-point shooter, was 0-for-1 from beyond the arc and finished with two poitns. Mary Fountain had 11 to lead the Lady Lions, with Kelli Jenkins, Aja Gibson and Jessica Sommers each adding 10.
UCA shot 55.3 percent (26-for-47) from the field, its second-highest mark of the season, and was 53.8 percent (7 of 13) from 3-point range. The Sugar Bears also shot 80 percent (20 of 25) from the free throw line.
The win assures the Sugar Bears their second straight winning season in the league, and keeps them a game ahead of Northwestern State for third place in the East Division. With Sam Houston State's loss to Lamar, UCA is now tied for fourth in the league though the Bearkats would have the tiebreaker for seeding purposes in the conference tournament next week in Katy, Texas.
The Sugar Bears will play their final home game of the season on Wednesday night against UTSA – the West Division co-leader heading into Saturday. The Sugar Bears entered Saturday a game behind the Roadrunners, a team UCA has yet to beat since joining the league.
