CONWAY — The Sugar Bears return to action tonight in the Farris Center when they host the Southland Conference-leading Lady Demons of Northwestern State at 7 p.m.
After falling to Nicholls on Saturday, the Sugar Bears (10-9, 3-4 Southland) look to regroup against the league's hottest team in the Lady Demons, who are 12-7 overall and 7-1 in conference play to sit alone atop the standings, and are 3-0 in Southland road games so far this season.
NSU is coming off a 75-54 rout of McNeese State on Saturday, having previously beaten Nicholls 74-71 last Wednesday. In their three conference road games to date, the Lady Demons have defeated A&M-Corpus Christi 66-59, Sam Houston State 66-57, and Houston Baptist 78-68.
The Sugar Bears are 6-4 in the Farris Center this season but have dropped their last two – a 75-72 overtime loss to Nicholls on Saturday and a 73-46 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 8. After putting together a five-game winning streak at the end of the non-conference schedule and beginning of conference play, the Sugar Bears have now dropped four of their last five.
Last season the teams split the season series with the Sugar Bears prevailing 73-61 in Conway behind 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists from
Brianna Mullins along with 11 points from
Maggie Proffitt. NSU turned the tables in Natchitoches, winning 77-45 in the final weekend of the regular season before they went on to win the Southland Conference tournament.
Tonight's game features two of the league's top scoring defenses, with the Sugar Bears second at 58.2 points per game allowed and the Lady Demons third at 61.5. In conference play, NSU tops the league offensively at 70.6 points per game while the Sugar Bears are 12th, scoring 54.7 points per contest. UCA has the best 3-point percentage among Southland teams this season at 33.6 percent, though Northwestern State has the third-best 3-point defense at 30.6 percent allowed. Both teams have been effective at the free throw line, with the Sugar Bears boasting a league-best 73.2 percentage for the season and the Lady Demons shooting 73.8 percent in conference games, best in the Southland.
NSU guard Janelle Perez is second in the Southland in conference games with a 20.8 scoring average, ranks fourth in assists at 4.8 per game and leads the conference with a 2.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In conference play she is shooting 48.6 percent from 3-point range, joined by Keisha Lee at 45 percent and Chelsea Rogers at 40.7 percent. Rogers is scoring 12.9 points per game in conference play while Lee adds 12.4 per game.
For the Sugar Bears, while Proffitt leads the team with 12 3-pointers made through seven conference games,
Kendara Watts (63.6 percent) and
Kelsey McClure (41.2) have been the team's most efficient perimeter threats. During non-conference play, McClure shot just 20.8 percent beyond the arc.
After tonight's game, the Sugar Bears are off until next Wednesday when they travel to Hammond, La. to take on Southeastern Louisiana before coming back home on Saturday, Feb. 7 to host New Orleans.
