CONWAY — With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Central Arkansas has reached the home stretch of the Southland Conference race in a position to wrap up a piece of the league championship at home this weekend in the Sugar Bears' final two games of the year in the Farris Center.
The Southland-leading Sugar Bears (18-7, 11-3 Southland) host Sam Houston State (11-14, 6-8) Thursday night at 5:30 before 2nd-place Lamar (15-10, 10-4) visits the Farris Center for Senior Day on Saturday at 2 p.m.
With a pair of wins, in the arena they've yet to lose a conference game this season (7-0), the Sugar Bears would guarantee themselves a piece of the conference championship and hit the road for the final week of the season with a chance to win it outright.
Saturday's game will also serve as the final home game in the careers of seniors Courtney Duever and Micah Rice, who have been a part of three 20-win seasons and the 2012 Southland Conference champions during their time in a Sugar Bear uniform.
But the first order of business will be the Bearkats, who come in fighting for a spot in the Southland tournament – currently sitting tied for 10th among tournament-eligible teams with a 6-8 league record.
LINKS
VIDEO (pregame begins 5:10)
LIVE STATS
Central Arkansas Game Notes
Sam Houston State Game Notes
THE SERIES
The Sugar Bears lead the series with SHSU 5-4, with the teams having alternated wins in each of the last five meetings. The Sugar Bears won last year's meeting in the Farris Center 71-51, with Courtney Duever scoring what was then a career-high of 28 points to go with 10 rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT
UCA
Courtney Duever scored 24 of her career-high 36 points in the 2nd half, with 15 coming in the final 6:13, as the Sugar Bears reclaimed the lead from Oral Roberts and pulled away late for a 62-54 win to remain undefeated at home in conference play. Duever's 36 points and 12 rebounds earned her her conference-leading 4th Player of the Week award of the season.
SHSU
The Bearkats lost for the second straight game and fourth out of their last five, falling 81-64 at Lamar. Angela Beadle had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in the loss, while Jasmine Johnson had 14 points and 7 assists, and Morghen Day added 14 points in 17 minutes off the bench, going 4 of 4 from 3-point range.
SCOUTING THE BEARKATS
Center Angela Beadle leads the team and is among the tops in the Southland at 15.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for the season. In conference play she is averaging 15.8 points and 10.9 rebounds. Jasmine Johnson is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.8 per game and is 3rd in the league in assists at 4.3 per game.
SHSU is 13th in Southland play with a 37.9 field goal percentage, and is 11th in free throw percentage at 68.8. The Bearkats are the top rebounding team in the conference, averaging 42.6 per game in league play, though are 3rd behind SFA (+11.2) and the Sugar Bears (+6.9) in rebound margin at +6.0.
STATS OF NOTE
- Duever is the only player to rank among the top 15 in Southland conference play in points (2nd), rebounds (3rd), blocks (6th) and steals (13th). For good measure, she is also in the top 15 in both field goal (9th) and free throw percentage (15th). Through 14 conference games she is averaging 18.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.4 blocks and shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 76.3 percent at the line with eight of her 12 double-doubles on the season coming in league play.
- The Sugar Bears rank 11th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 56.2 points per game for the season. In conference play they have allowed just 54.0 points per game, 5.1 per game ahead of Stephen F. Austin for best in the conference. Though the Sugar Bears rank just 11th in Southland games in scoring offense at 63.3 points per game, they still have the league's best scoring margin at +9.3.
- The Sugar Bears rank 2nd in the Southland in FG Pct. defense, giving up just 38.5 pct. shooting. On the other end of the floor, the Bearkats are next to last in field goal pct, shooting just 37.9 pct. for the conference season.
- In their final two home games of the season this week, the Sugar Bears will look to wrap up an unblemished home record in Southland play, entering at 7-0. For the season the Sugar Bears are 11-3 in the Farris Center, last losing 73-61 to Sun Belt leader Arkansas State on Dec. 21.
