CONWAY — For the second straight game, Central Arkansas bounced back from a sluggish first half with a much stronger second half to pull away for a win, this time defeating Lamar 63-53 in the Farris Center on Saturday.
Three days after coming back from 17 down at Nicholls, the Sugar Bears (14-4, 4-1 Southland) spotted Lamar (9-9, 1-3) an eight-point lead early in the second half before going on a 10-1 run to regain the lead. They followed it up with a 12-2 run midway through the half to pull away as they outscored the Lady Cardinals 40-28 over the final 20 minutes to complete their first-ever sweep in the series and remain perfect (10-0) at home this season.
"We knew Lamar would be hungry after the outcome down there," UCA head coach Matt Daniel said, referencing the Sugar Bears' 62-37 win in Beaumont in the conference opener. "With it being such a quick turnaround from the first game, we knew it would be fresh on their minds. They threw their best punch, but we were able to take it and give one right back."
Lamar led most of the first half, with Kalis Loyd getting 14 of her game-high 26 points. Early in the second half, the Lady Cardinals knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to take their biggest lead at 33-25 with 18:26 to play.
Three minutes later, the Sugar Bears had retaken the lead at 35-34 after a 3-point play from Nakeia Guiden, a 3-point basket by Courtney Duever, a putback by Deisree' Rogers and then a Duever putback off a Micah Rice shot.
The teams battled back and forth for the next several minutes, finding themselves tied at 43 with just under 10 minutes to go. Then the Sugar Bears went on the run that swung the momentum in their favor and gave them a lead that proved to be insurmountable.
After consecutive 3-pointers from Rice and Marci Moffitt, Loyd scored for Lamar before UCA reeled off the next six points. Rice struck first with a layup, then Megan Herbert followed with a pair of free throws. The Sugar Bear lead hit 10 when Herbert lobbed a pass into Duever for an easy score to put UCA ahead 55-45 with 5:21 to go.
Lamar got no closer than seven points the rest of the way, and Duever dropped in the game's final points with 13 seconds left to cap the win and her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
"I thought we played fast in the second half, in the first half we played fast but we were a little wild," Daniel said. "We want to play fast, but not out of control. I thought it was a great effort all the way up and down the roster, and we're starting to share the ball better. We had too many turnovers in the first half – we had 10, but only five in the second half, and settled in a little bit. This is a resilient group, and that was a good win today."
Four Sugar Bears scored in double figures, led by 15 from Guiden. Duever had 12, and Herbert and Rice each added 11. Herbert and Desiree' Rogers each had seven rebounds, and Rogers had a team-high three steals. Rice and Destinee Rogers each had four assists.
UCA shot 50 percent for the game, and held Lamar to 35.8 percent shooting. The Sugar Bears outrebounded the Lady Cardinals 37-25.
The win gives Daniel 62 for his career, putting him in sole possession of second place in UCA history. It also marks the 12th double-digit victory of the season for the Sugar Bears and the sixth game in a row in which they've held their opponent under 60 points. It makes three in a row for the Sugar Bears over the Lady Cardinals, the only Southland team to win more games than UCA over the past three seasons.
The Sugar Bears will stay at home for both games next week, hosting Southeastern Louisiana and defending league champion McNeese State on Saturday.
