CONWAY — Central Arkansas turned in its most dominating performance of the year on Monday night, throttling Philander Smith 94-25 at the Farris Center in the Sugar Bears' final game before beginning Southland Conference play Saturday at Lamar.
The Sugar Bears (10-3) held the Panthers to the lowest point total for a UCA opponent since limiting Central Methodist to 22 on Nov. 25, 2009, and registered their highest output since getting 106 against Houston Baptist on Jan. 5, 2010.
"I thought we came out more prepared tonight," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. "It wasn't about the opponent; it was about achieving goals we wanted to achieve. I thought we did a pretty good job of staying focused for the whole night."
The Sugar Bears kept the Panthers to just one field goal over a 12-minute span in the first half as they built a 38-9 lead en route 48-11 halftime advantage. It was much of the same in the second half, as UCA outscored Philander 46-14 and held the Panthers to 15.8 percent shoting. For the game, the Panthers shot just 16.9 percent, hitting 10 of 59 field goal attempts and missing on all 13 of their 3-point attempts.
UCA countered with 46.8 percent shooting, led by Megan Herbert's 11-of-15 (.733) performance. Herbert, who played just 22 minutes, outscored the Panthers by two as she matched her season high with 27 points – passing UCA Sports Hall of Fame member and current Assistant Athletic Director Natalie Shock for 10th in school history along the way. Herbert now has 1,408 points for her career.
Herbert also led all player with 12 rebounds for her 53rd career double-double and sixth of the season.
Chantel Moss poured in a career-high 16 points, with 13 coming in the the second half, and narrowly missed her second double-double of the season as she finished with nine rebounds.
Westin Taylor added 11 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench, and Desiree' Rogers added 10 points. Marci Moffitt had eight, leading the team with a pair of 3-pointers, Nakeia Guiden and Courtney Duever had seven and Sharlay Burris had six. Burris and Duever each had nine rebounds as the Sugar Bears dominated the Panthers on the glass, 64-29.
Burris tied Britney Gowans for the team lead with four assists, and also led the team with four blocks and five steals. All 12 active Sugar Bears played double-digit minutes, with Herbert and Destinee Rogers logging a team-high 22 apiece.
The Sugar Bears finish their non-conference season 10-3, equaling their best start in four seasons under Daniel.
They begin the 2012 Southland Conference season with their first two opponents in last season's conference tournament – Lamar and Stephen F. Austin, both on the road.
"Our focus has got to shift immediately," Daniel said. "We haven't won at Lamar or Stephen F. Austin, and we start on the road at those two places. We have to be really focused and intense and mentally strong. That's a pretty stiff test to start league play. But it's fun knowing that now we can start talking about going out and playing to win a championship."
