ABILENE, Texas — Riding a three-game winning streak to finish the non-conference portion of the 2014-15 schedule with a 7-5 record, the Central Arkansas women's basketball team enters its Southland Conference opener at Abilene Christian on Sunday with the league's longest active winning streak.
With hopes of making it four in a row and winning their conference opener for the fourth consecutive season, the Sugar Bears meet up with a Wildcat squad that has started the season with a 7-3 mark, joining UCA and reigning co-champion Stephen F. Austin as the only Southland team's with seven wins thus far.
It will be the second meeting ever between UCA and ACU, which is in its second year in the Southland after moving up last season from NCAA Division II. In last year's meeting, the Sugar Bears left ACU's Moody Coliseum with a 67-54 win in a game in which the Sugar Bears won the rebounding battle 41-23 and made 23 of 27 (85.2 pct.) from the free throw line.
Brianna Mullins poured in what remains her career high of 25 points in the win, while
Kelsey McClure also added 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. ACU's trandem of Suzzy and Lizzy Dimba combined for 24 points and 16 rebounds in the game.
The Dimba sisters are two key pieces of this year's balanced Wildcat attack, which features five players averaging more than 11 points per game. They are led by Alexis Mason at 14.5 points per game, followed by Whitney West (12.6), Sydney Shelstead (12.5) and the Dimbas with Lizzy scoring 12 and Suzzy 11.9, giving ACU five of the Southland's top 18 scorers. At 13.7 points per game for the Sugar Bears,
Maggie Proffitt ranks 9th in the league in scoring, while
Kendara Watts is 13th at 13.1. Watts is fourth in the league with a .529 field goal percentage, and Proffitt leads the league with 2.8 3-point field goals per game and is fourth in percentage at .375. Mullins ranks third in the league with a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio
The matchup pits one of the nation's top defenses against one of the top offenses, as the Sugar Bears come into Sunday's contest 22nd in the nation in scoring defense at 54.3 points per game while the Wildcats score 77.4 per game, the 30th-most prolific offense in Division I. ACU's scoring margin of +14.2 ties for 41st nationally, just ahead of Georgia Tech.
The Sugar Bears are also near the top of the national rankings in both team free throw percentage (78.5) and personal fouls per game (13.0), ranking 3rd in the country in both categories.
The Sugar Bears are 3-5 all-time in Southland openers, having won their last three. They are 2-3 when opening on the road, winning 72-56 at Nicholls in 2013 and 62-37 at Lamar in 2012. They begin their 9th season in the Southland with a 71-61 league record, and have averaged 11.2 conference wins per season over the last five years.
UCA was picked 4th in the league's preseason polls, receiving one 1st Place vote in the Sports Information Directors poll. ACU was predicted to finish 8th by both the SIDs and league coaches.
