Natchitoches, La. – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team took to the field at the Demon Soccer Complex at Northwestern State University knowing exactly what they needed to do on Friday night. Following Nicholls' 2-1 loss to Southeastern Louisiana earlier in the day,the Bears knew that all that stood between them and the program's first Southland Conference Tournament bid since 2013 was a win over the Lady Demons. The Bears answered the call, taking down the Lady Demons 3-1 to earn the sixth seed in next week's SLC Tournament.

Central Arkansas (7-11-1, 4-6-1 SLC) got on the board in just the eight minute, as junior Shelby Wilson played a long ball forward to freshman Ashley Smith, who caught
Northwestern State keeper Brooke Bourbonais in no-man's land before chipping the ball over her from the top-left corner of the box for her fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 Central Arkansas lead.

Fellow freshman Camille Bassett added to the Bears' lead in the 25^th minute, collecting a ball out wide from sophomore Alex Moore and dribbling into the box before finishing near-post for her 10^th goal of the year.

Northwestern (5-10-4, 2-5-3 SLC) cut into the Central Arkansas lead in the 52^nd minute, when Camila Ardila fired a shot that was saved by UCA keeper Anna Hughes. Sage Leffew pounced on the rebound slamming it home to cut the Bears' lead to 2-1.

Bassett added an insurance goal in the 61^st minute, receiving a pass from Smith on a breakaway and winning the one-on-one with Lady Demon Keeper Alex Latham to make it 3-1 in favor of the Bears.

"We came out and played with a ton of energy and worked really hard defensively against a really solid Northwestern team," said Central Arkansas head coach Jeremy Bishop after the match. "We did a really good job of countering their pressure and getting some good scoring chances. We've been doing that a lot lately, but tonight we were able to finish those chances, which we've struggled to do lately."

On the night, Central Arkansas put eight of its 16 shots on goal, led by Bassett, who was on target with three of her six shots. Smith put two shots on frame, while Wilson, Kate Koch, and Allie Coleman all added one shot on goal. Hughes made three saves in goal for Central Arkansas.

"It was frustrating the last couple of weeks to go from playing for seeding to having to fight just to get in to the tournament," said Bishop after the Bears broke a six-match winless on Friday night. "But we've been playing well during that time, and we knew that if we just kept playing well, we'd get it figured out."

The win gives the Bears their second appearance in the Southland Conference Tournament. Central Arkansas lost in the opening round to Southeastern Louisiana in 2013. The Bears, who are locked in as the sixth seed, will face the third seed in the tournament, which will be either Southeastern Louisiana or Sam Houston State. The Bearkats take on Incarnate Word at 1:00 PM on Sunday. The Southland Conference Tournament, which is being hosted by Central Arkansas, begins on Thursday afternoon at the Bill Stephens Soccer Complex, with matches at 4:30 PM and 7:00 PM. Friday will feature matches at 4:30 PM and 7:00 PM, before the championship match is played at 1:05 PM on Sunday afternoon.