ABILENE, Texas — Behind a career day from freshman guard Brianna Mullins and another double-double from senior center Courtney Duever, Central Arkansas took control early and led for the final 33 minutes as the Sugar Bears defeated Abilene Christian 67-54 to claim their spot atop the Southland Conference standings.
The Sugar Bears (10-6, 4-1 Southland) went on an 11-0 run early in the first half to pull ahead of ACU (11-7, 2-1) 15-9 and continued to distance themselves from the Wildcats – building a lead as large as 20 in the second half before cruising to the win in the first meeting between the two teams.
It was the first Southland loss for the league newcomers, and their first loss in eight games this season at Moody Coliseum.
"We had a lull at first, but put together a pretty good 35 or so minutes," said UCA head coach Sandra Rushing. "We're happy to get another win on the road, but there are some things we want to go back and take care of. But on the road, we'll always take a win. Very proud of our team."
Mullins poured in a career-high 25 points to lead all scorers, making 8 of 14 from the field and 9 of 10 at the free throw line. Courtney Duever, who came into the game averaging 17 points and 9.5 rebounds in Southland games, posted her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds, adding a pair of blocks and steals as well. Kelsey McClure tied her season high with 11 points, scoring five at the free throw line as the Sugar Bears combined to shoot 85.2 percent (23 of 27) on free throws, including going 20 of 24 in the second half. ACU was 13 of 18 from the line for the game.
"It's great to see our freshmen playing such a valuable part of us winning," Rushing said. "I'm proud of how Bri and McClure played today, and Maggie Proffitt didn't shoot it well, but still helped us with her presence on the floor. And for us to shoot 85 percent at the free throw line, we'll take that every day. That was a big key for us, that and I thought we made great hustle plays. And we have to make hustle plays on the road."
The Sugar Bears held the Wildcats to just 37.5 percent shooting for the game and limited the Southland's top scoring offense to 21 points beneath its season average. ACU came in making 9.6 3-pointers per game, tied for 4th-most in the country, but were just 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) on Saturday.
UCA will be back at home for a pair of pivotal conference matchups next week with Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin coming to the Farris Center. SFA is tied with the Sugar Bears with a 4-1 league record, while Northwestern State is 3-2.
