KATY, Texas — They've got a shot.
Central Arkansas continued to make the most of its first Southland Conference tournament, earning a spot in Friday night's championship game at 7 p.m. and keeping its NCAA Tournament dreams alive by defeating defending tournament champion Lamar 68-60 in overtime in the semifinals of the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament on Thursday.
And in doing so, they get another moment to enjoy.
"The only thing I talked about to them before the game was to enjoy it," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. "There was no scouting report on the board. We just talked about enjoying the moment. It's very important to stop and smell the roses, and kids today have access to so much that sometimes they forget to stop and breathe and enjoy what they're doing. Going into overtime the only thing I said is 'are we having fun yet?' Today I am thankful to our program and our student-athletes for allowing me to enjoy this moment."
The Sugar Bears (21-11), who had lost the previous two meetings this season with the Lady Cardinals (24-7) and squandered a 15-point lead in a four-point loss in Conway, nearly let it slip away again.
After building a 10-point lead with 5:58 to play, the Sugar Bears went stone cold, scoring just two points the rest of regulation – both free throws. Lamar steadily chipped away at the UCA lead, cutting the lead to one with 2:30 left.
Trailing 50-40, Lamar's Jenna Plumley knocked down a 3-pointer, which was followed by an Ang Green basket and a layup by Trashanna Smith. A layup from Kalis Loyd put the Lady Cards down 50-49.
With 1:47 left, Nakeia Guiden hit one of two free throws to put the Sugar Bears up two. But Plumley, who was 5-of-21 for the game and 2-for-11 from 3-point range, connected for the second time from beyond the arc to give Lamar a 52-51 lead with 1:37 left.
On UCA's next possession, Nakeia Guiden drove to the basket for a layup and missed, but Megan Herbert was there for the offensive rebound. Unfortunately for UCA, her putback was off the mark and Lamar took possession. The Lady Cards came up empty, and eventually the ball ended up in Guiden's hands one final time. She was fouled by Smith with 18 seconds left, and hit the second of her two free throws to force the tie.
Lamar was unable to get a final shot off as Destinee Rogers stripped the ball from Plumley in the closing seconds to force the extra frame.
In the overtime period, the Sugar Bears took control of the game the same way they got to it – at the free throw line. Two days after outscoring Stephen F. Austin 29-13 at the line, the Sugar Bears did it again – holding a 21-5 scoring advantage on free throws. UCA got all but four of its overtime points there – going 12-for-17 in the final five minutes to close it out against the Lady Cards.
"Free throws," said sophomore guard Micah Rice, who led the way with 18 points and a perfect 9-for-9 at the line. "We've been working on them since Day One. We knew coming into the tournament that we hadn't been shooting the best percentage. We've been keying on that in practice and it carried over to the game today."
Rice had nine of her points in overtime, single-handedly outscoring the Lady Cardinals by one in the extra frame, with seven coming at the line. The one field goal was a pivotal one for the Sugar Bears, who had a four-point lead before Rice drove to the basket for a layup and drew a foul, knocking down the free throw to give UCA a seven-point advantage with 2:39 left.
Neither team scored for more than a minute, and Rice and Rogers proceeded to knock down four more in a row from the line to push the UCA lead to 63-52 with 1:10 to go.
Rice, Guiden and Rogers were the only three Sugar Bears to score in double figures, with 20 of their 46 points coming at the line. Guiden had 15 and Rogers 13 in addition to Rice's 18.
The victory came in a game in which Southland Conference Player of the Year Megan Herbert was held to just three points and four rebounds in 25 minutes.
"Meg's pretty shook up and disappointed in how she's played the last couple days," Daniel said. "I was trying to get her to loosen up because she was in tears because of how competitive she is. She carries a big burden for us, and she's just played the two worst games I've seen her play in a Central Arkansas uniform. For us to be able to do that without her performing at that level is quite an accomplishment for our program."
A big factor in pulling out the win was the Sugar Bears' effort on the defensive end. Lamar shot just 37.1 percent (26 of 70) for the game and went just 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) in overtime. While UCA shot 43.8 percent from the 3-point line, hitting 7 of 16, Lamar was held to just 15.8 percent on 3-of-19 shooting.
Lamar's quartet of Plumley, Loyd, Green and Trashanna Smith cobined to shoot 21-for-59 (35.6 percent), and Monique Whittaker – who averages 13.7 points per game – was limited to just three.
"It started with our defense," Guiden said. "We had to focus on that. I feel like that's what we did, and we did it well."
Desiree' Rogers, who had 25 points and 15 rebounds on Tuesday, followed with 14 rebounds on Thursday to lead all players. Smith finished with 10 for the Lady Cards.
The win gives the Sugar Bears 21 for the second consecutive season, moving them to 42-18 over the past two seasons. Those 42 wins are second in the league only to Lamar's 51.
"Lamar's program has become a conference powerhouse with recognition all over the country for the job Coach Tidwell does in recruiting and getting them motivated and being ambassadors for the conference," Daniel said of the Lady Cards, who were 83rd in the last NCAA RPI – the highest in the Southland. "My hat's certainly off to them. But my hat's also off to our team. We've had a high level of consistency and stayed on a pretty even keel and not panicking in playing two games of bad basketball. The fortunate thing is it doesn't matter as long as you are at a higher level than your opponent."
