BEAUMONT, Texas – Central Arkansas turned in a suffocating defensive effort and scored a convincing road victory to open Southland Conference play on Saturday, defeating Lamar 62-37 at the Montagne Center for the Sugar Bears’ first-ever win in Beaumont.
“What a great team effort,” said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. “We had great on-ball pressure from all kinds of people all over the floor. Our mentality was right, and even when we were struggling offensively we were able to get stops defensively. Holding them to 37 points is pretty good defense. It’s a really, really big road win and gives us a huge lift. But now we’ve got to focus on Stephen F. Austin.”
The Sugar Bears (11-3, 1-0) held the Lady Cardinals (8-7, 0-1) to 26 percent shooting for the game, and made 26 field goals to Lamar’s 13 while shooting 45.6 percent. The 37 points ties Lamar’s lowest output ever in a Southland Conference game and marks the third straight game the Sugar Bears have held their opponent to fewer than 40 points. It is also the eighth time this season UCA has kept its opponent under 50, the most in a season in program history.
The outcome was never in doubt as the Sugar Bears built a double-digit lead midway through the first half and never let the Lady Cards closer than seven. They blew the game open late in the second half, going on a 23-6 run over an eight-minute span to extend the lead to 62-34 with 1:27 left.
Leading 11 with just under 10 minutes to go, Micah Rice started the run with a pair of free throws. After a Courtney Duever basket, Nakeia Guiden followed with a pair of layups. Rice scored UCA’s next five to push the UCA lead to 20 for the first time, and freshman Sharlay Burris extended the lead with back-to-back 3-pointers. After a score from Desiree’ Rogers, Chantel Moss capped the UCA scoring with 1:27 remaining.
Rice led UCA with 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting, with Guiden adding 11 and Megan Herbert 10. Rogers had a game-high 10 rebounds to lead the Sugar Bears, who outrebounded the Lady Cards 39-29. Herbert had nine boards and Guiden had a season-high seven. Destinee Rogers led the Sugar Bears with five assists, and committed just one turnover. Herbert made two free throws, giving her 407 for her career and moving her into 8th place in Southland history.
After 12 turnovers in the first half, the Sugar Bears committed just four in the second and forced the Lady Cardinals into a total of 20 – 11 coming in the second half, leading to 11 UCA points as the Sugar Bears outscored Lamar 33-17 in the half.
The win marked the first in five tries at the Montagne Center for the Sugar Bears since joining the Southland Conference, and is the second win in a row over Lamar for UCA.
The Sugar Bears will be on the road again on Wednesday, when they travel to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on Stephen F. Austin.
