CONWAY — Central Arkansas put together its most complete game of the Southland Conference season to date on Wednesday, enjoying one of its best shooting nights of the year and combining it with an effective defensive scheme as the Sugar Bears handily defeated league-leading Northwestern State 63-46 in the Farris Center. 

"I'm so proud," said UCA head coach Sandra Rushing. "We played extremely hard, executed the game plan, and defensively did a really good job. We hit the shots we needed to hit, shot 70 percent from the free throw line, kept them off the offensive glass, it was just a total team effort. It's a great win for us over the No. 1 team in the conference. It's great to see how the team bounced back after the loss on Saturday. Now we've got to carry this on the road."

The Sugar Bears (11-19, 4-4 Southland) came in shooting just 38.3 percent from the field in conference play, but had their second-best night of the season on Wednesday as they shot 52.2 percent and were 47.1 percent from 3-point range, including knocking down 6 of 7 (85.7 percent) in the second half.  The Sugar Bears also registered a season-high 17 assists on their 24 made baskets.

The primary offensive catalyst for UCA was sophomore guard Maggie Proffitt, who was 6-of-13 from beyond the arc en route to 28 points, the most for any Sugar Bear this season, with 20 coming in the second half. Proffitt moved up to 9th place in program history in 3-pointers with 109 for her career in 50 games. Brianna Mullins added 10 points and tied Jameka Watkins for the team lead with five assists. Kendara Watts had 9 points,Brittany Agee had 4 points and a team-high 5 rebounds, and Terai Sadler added 6 points and 3 rebounds.
 

"We were in a groove tonight," said Proffitt, who finished just two points off her career high of 30. "It was a lot of fun. We knew we had to share the ball, and when we got it down to the post they doubled down and we were able to kick it back out and knock down shots. Then, we were able to get it into the post and score inside as well. We knew we really needed this win. Coach preached all week about coming in and working hard, and we did that and it paid off tonight."

The Lady Demons (12-8, 7-2) got 19 points from Janelle Perez, but no other NSU player had more than six. Keisha Lee and Chelsea Rogers, who combine for 20.5 points per game, were limited to a combined 2 on 1-of-9 shooting. Perez, who averages 3.8 assists, including 4.8 in conference play, was held without an assist for the first time this season. 

With the win, the Sugar Bears have now defeated the Lady Demons in Conway the last four years by an average of 21.5 points per game. The win is also the first double-digit conference win this season for UCA. 

The Sugar Bears are off until next Wednesday when they travel to Southeastern Louisiana, then return home on Saturday to take on New Orleans. UCA defeated the Privateers 53-46 in New Orleans last week.