SAN ANTONIO – After nearly a week on the road, the Sugar Bears are finally coming home. And they're bringing a conference championship with them.
Central Arkansas clinched a share of its first Southland Conference championship Wednesday, defeating UTSA 62-50 to also secure the top seed at next week’s conference tournament in Katy.
"Congratulations to Central Arkansas," said fourth-year head coach Matt Daniel. "The pressure has been on this group, and to come out and win it on the road after dropping one is just awesome. It's amazing, you're 22-5 and lose one and your confidence sways, and you don't get to go home where everybody loves you. You've just got to grind it out. And we did that. Congratulations to everybody at Central Arkansas. It'll be nice to have a banner hanging in the Farris Center that says 'Women's Basketball Conference Champions'."
The Sugar Bears (23-5, 13-2 Southland) led the entire way, building a lead as big as 13 before the Roadrunners (8-20, 4-11) cut it to as few as two with just under four minutes to go at 52-50. The Sugar Bears would keep the Roadrunners off the board the rest of the way, and hit 10 straight free throws down the stretch to pull away for the win.
It marks the first conference title for the Sugar Bears in their six seasons in the Southland, and their second in their NCAA history with the other coming in 2005 as a member of the Division II Gulf South Conference.
"That's a locker room full of joy right now," Daniel said. "A lot of hard work has gone into that. I'm so happy for everybody in that locker room. These seniors were the first class we recruited, and they get to win a conference championship. That's what you hope for, and I'm thankful to be a part of it."
Despite hitting just four field goals in the second half (the last coming with 7:52 remaining) and shooting 17.4 percent, the Sugar Bears outscored the Roadrunners 29-26 in the period by going 18-for-18 from the free throw line and limiting UTSA to just 20 percent shooting (5 for 25).
Megan Herbert recorded her ninth straight double-double with 22 points, including 10-for-10 shooting at the free throw line and going 2-for-2 beyond the arc, and 13 rebounds to lead all players. Nakeia Guiden had 12 points, Micah Rice had 10, and Courtney Duever added eight points and seven rebounds. Hebert and Guiden each had three steals for UCA.
The Sugar Bears will have a chance to win the title outright on Saturday when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the regular season finale. UCA is 15-0 at home this season.
