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ABILENE, Texas — For the second straight game, Central Arkansas will be facing a Southland Conference newcomer for the first time – following a win over Incarnate Word on Thursday with a trip to Abilene Christian on Saturday.
It will be another chance at a first for the Sugar Bears (9-6, 3-1 Southland), who were the first Division I opponent to visit Incarnate Word on Thursday. Today, they'll have a chance to get the first Southland Conference win over the Wildcats who come into today's game with an 11-6 overall mark and 2-0 record in the conference. A win would also keep the Sugar Bears atop the Southland standings, as they come in as one of three teams with one league loss along with Stephen F. Austin and Lamar.
ACU, in its first year transitioning to Division I after being a member of the Lone Star Conference in Division II, lead all Southland teams with 11 wins – including victories over Texas Tech out of the Big 12 and former Southland member UT Arlington.
In their two conference games to date, the Wildcats have amassed the league's widest margin of victory – beating New Orleans and Oral Roberts by an average of 29 points. After doubling up UNO 88-44 in the conference opener, the Wildcats knocked off ORU 70-56 on Thursday night.
The Wildcats boast the most prolific offense among Southland teams, scoring 75.4 points per game. The Sugar Bears counter with the league's stingiest defense, allowing only 58.3 points per contest. The Wildcats are just behind the Sugar Bears at 63.4 points per game allowed.
Today's game will also pit two of the league's best shooting teams against one another, with UCA second in the league and ACU third in field goal percentage. The Wildcats also rank third in 3-point percentage at 33.5 percent, and have hit a Southland-best 163 from beyond the arc this season with their 9.6 per game tying them for fourth-most in the country.
Individually, the Wildcats are led by four players averaging at least 11 points per game. Renata Marquez tops the list at 13.4 while pulling down 6.8 rebounds and dishing out a team-best 3.5 assists per game. Whitney West averages 12 points and Alexis Mason 11.2. Suzzy Dimba averages 11.3 points and leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game. That quartet has combined to shoot 43.2 percent from the field, with 126 3-pointers among them. West has connected on 40 3-pointers, Marquez 36 and Mason 32. Maggie Proffitt, the Sugar Bears' top outside threat, has hit 32 of UCA's 73 3-pointers for the season.
