MACON, Ga. — After dropping their first two games of the Preseason WNIT to Western and Eastern Kentucky, Central Arkansas closed out their three-game season-opening swing in the tournament with a wire-to-wire win over Jackson State on Saturday, winning 56-45.

The Sugar Bears (2-1) ran out to an early lead and went ahead by 10 with just under 5 minutes to play in the half, and the Tigers (0-3) were able to trim the deficit to single digits just twice, for less than a minute total, as the Sugar Bears would build a lead as large as 20 in the 2nd half.

Leading 28-20 late in the first half, the Sugar Bears went on a 15-3 run over the next 10:30 to build the lead up to 20 at 43-23 and cruised to their first win of the season after losing 93-57 at Western Kentucky in the opener and 56-55 in heartbreaking fashion against Eastern Kentucky on Friday, losing a lead in the final seconds.

UCA shot just 34.6 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from 3-point range, but clamped down defensively on JSU – holding the Tigers to 30.9 percent shooting and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Sugar Bears were also perfect from the free throw line, making 15 of 15 led by Brittany Agee's 6 of 6. 

The Sugar Bears also had their way on the boards, grabbing 44 rebounds to JSU's 29, getting 17 offensive rebounds that they converted to 12 points. Sophomore Raquel Logan led the way with a career-high 9 to pace the Sugar Bears. 

Maggie Proffitt again led UCA in scoring, getting 15 points on 5 of 15 shooting including going 3 for 8 from 3-point range. Kendara Watts had 11, Agee 8, freshman Angel Williams 7, Brianna Mullins 6, Terai Sadler 5 and both Logan and Kelsey McClure 2 each.

UCA will make its 2014-15 home debut on Tuesday when the Sugar Bears host Lyon College. They will play four of their next five in the Farris Center, hosting Jacksonville State next Saturday, Central Baptist College on Dec. 4 and Southeast Missouri State on Dec. 6.