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SAN ANTONIO — The Sugar Bears will look to return to the win column and make a bit of history in doing so on Thursday as they face Southland Conference newcomer Incarnate Word for the first time at UIW's McDermott Center at 5:30.

The Sugar Bears (8-6, 2-1 Southland) will be the first Division I opponent to visit UIW as the Cardinals (7-7, 1-1), in their inaugural D-I season, have played only three home games to date with wins against non D-I opponents Wayland Baptist, Our Lady of the Lake University, and the University of St. Thomas.

The Cardinals split their first weekend of Southland games on the road last weekend, losing 67-55 at Southeastern Louisiana before bouncing back with a 67-38 romp of New Orleans. They have five wins against non D-I opponents, and defeated former Southland and current Sun Belt Conference member UT Arlington 52-48 in Arlington. Non-conference losses for the Cardinals include an 82-34 loss at UALR and a 72-57 loss at Rice. Prior to the win over New Orleans, they had dropped three straight, losing at Division II Angelo State before back-to-back losses at Rice and Southeastern Louisiana.

UIW is led by Ify Mora, who averages 11 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. She scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Cardinals' win at UT Arlington, and in two Southland games is averaging 10 points and 7.5 rebounds. Senior Rose Whitehead is the team's leading scorer at 14.9 points per game and is also averaging 5.7 rebounds. In her last three games, Whitehead has averaged 19 points per game, scoring 20 at Rice, 18 at Southeastern Louisiana and 19 at New Orleans.

For UCA, senior Courtney Duever has had a solid five-game stretch – averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds including a pair of double-doubles. In conference play, she is averaging 18 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, putting her fourth, fifth and third in those categories in conference games.

Freshman Maggie Proffitt, the team's second-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game, has been in double figures in scoring in four of the Sugar Bears' last five games, averaging 11.2 per game during that span. Junior Terai Sadler has been in double figures in two of the last three games with 12 points each against A&M-Corpus Christi and Oral Roberts, raising her season average to 8.4 points per game.

The game will be the first of two on the road for the Sugar Bears at Southland newcomers, with a trip to Abilene Christian scheduled for Saturday.