CONWAY — After a lackluster effort in an overtime loss to Northwestern State on Wednesday, Central Arkansas bounced back with its strongest defensive effort of the season and led nearly the entire way as the Sugar Bears rolled to a 63-37 win over UT Arlington in the Farris Center on Sunday.
"That's the team I want to coach," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. "[UT Arlington] was as good a defensive team as we've seen all year, but we were locked in and it's fun when we play that way. The girls were all out there having a good time, and it's all in the approach to the game. What we saw today was the Sugar Bears."
The Sugar Bears (14-8, 6-3 Southland) held the Mavs (6-14, 3-5) to just 29.6 percent shooting from the field, including a second half of just 23.3 percent (7 of 30). The Mavs were just 1-of-14 from 3-point range – just 7.1 percent.
The 37 points was the fewest points the Sugar Bears have allowed to not only a Southland team, but against all Division I competition. UCA had held Eastern Kentucky to 47 and Northwestern State to 48 last season, but had yet to hold a D-I team to fewer than 40. The Mavs got 20 in the first half and were then held to just 17 in the second – tying Oklahoma Wesleyan for the lowest second-half total against the Sugar Bears this season.
"That was all energy," Daniel said. "Our defensive energy was up and we were more focused. We got a good lift off the bench as well. I'm really proud of the effort off the bench today. Britney Gowans, Desiree' Rogers, Marci Moffitt – they played their tails off and that was a big, big key."
The Mavs got on the board first, but that 2-0 lead would be their only one of the game as the Sugar Bears ripped off a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to take control of the game.
Eight of those 12 points were scored by sophomore forward Megan Herbert, putting her over the 1,000-point mark for her career just over four minutes into her 51st career game. With 1,008 she becomes the 20th Sugar Bear to top the 1,000-point plateau, and ties Teressa Moss as the quickest to do so in school history. Moss accomplished it as a senior, making Herbert the fastest sophomore to do so – topping the old mark of 55 games set by Carone Harris.
"Congrats to Megan for reaching 1,000 points," Daniel said. "It's an unbelievable accomplishment to do so midway through her sophomore year. I'm really pleased for her - some of the things she does on the floor are pretty incredible. But the great thing is that she doesn't even really care about it. She's just happy for her teammates and that we got a win today."
Herbert finished with a game-high 15 points despite playing just 15 minutes. Freshman center Courtney Duever had her second double-double in three games, putting up 10 points and 11 rebounds. Micah Rice also added 10 points.
The Sugar Bears got 24 points off the bench, led by eight apiece from Gowans and Rogers. Gowans also added five rebounds and three steals and Rogers led all players with four steals.
Tamara Simmons, UTA's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, was limited to seven – all in the first half – on 3-of-13 shooting. Shalyn Martin, the Mavs' second-leading scorer, was also held to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. Jasmine Smith led UTA with eight points and 11 rebounds.
The Sugar Bears forced the Mavs into 27 turnovers – the most against a Division I team since 28 against Norfolk State on Nov. 20 – and had 19 steals. Five different players had at least three, with Herbert, Rice and Nakeia Guiden adding three each to Gowans' three and Rogers' four.
UCA will take to the road for its next four games, traveling to San Marcos, Texas to take on Texas State Wednesday before going to Lake Charles, La. for the second meeting with divisional foe McNeese State on Saturday.
