THIBODAUX, La. — Winners of three in a row and seven of their last nine, Central Arkansas enters the final week of the regular season with two pivotal match ups as the Sugar Bears aim to finish in one of the top four spots and earn an opening-round bye in next week's Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas.

The Sugar Bears (17-11, 10-6 Southland) currently sit in a three-way tie for 4th place in the league standings, even with Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The team just ahead of them in the standings also happens to be the next team on the schedule, as 3rd-place Nicholls (15-12, 11-5) hosts the Sugar Bears at 5 p.m. Thursday at Stopher Gym on Senior Night for the Colonels.

It's the first of two games that could go a long way in determining the Sugar Bears' tournament seeding, with UCA concluding the regular season on Saturday at McNeese State – which currently sits 7th a half-game back of UCA, Northwestern State and A&M-Corpus Christi at 10-7.

In the Colonels, the Sugar Bears face a team that has won four of the last five in the series including the last three, most recently winning 75-72 in overtime in Conway earlier this season in a game in which the Sugar Bears led by as many as 13. 

The Colonels shot nearly 60 percent from the field in that game and won despite committing five more turnovers than the Sugar Bears and being out rebounded 35-26 by UCA. The Sugar Bears had a pair of 3-point attempts to tie in the final 10 seconds but could not get either one to drop. The Sugar Bears were led in that game by Kelsey McClure's 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Since that loss on Jan. 24, the Sugar Bears have won seven times in nine tries, with the losses to McNeese State and Northwestern State both coming by two points and both with the deciding points scored inside the final four seconds.

Over the last nine games, the Sugar Bears have limited their opponents to 53.6 points per game and just 37.9 percent shooting overall and 28.2 percent from 3-point range. Maggie Proffitt has scored a team-best 16.4 points per game during that span, while Brianna Mullins (coming off the Southland's first triple-double since 2010 and 6th all-time with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists vs. Southeastern Louisiana) has scored 13.3 with a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game and a 54.2 3-point percentage. 

Mullins is one of just three Southland players to average at least 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game this season.

During the Sugar Bears' current winning streak, Mullins has averaged 15.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists. Kendara Watts has scored 14.3 per game, adding 4.7 rebounds and shooting 54.3 percent from the field. Proffitt has averaged 14 points per game during the win streak, shooting 83.3 percent from the free throw line. Senior Terai Sadler has played her most productive basketball of the season as well, averaging 10.3 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 70.6 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free throw line.

The Colonels are getting 14.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game from senior Jenny Nash, who is the conference leader in 3-pointers made (2.7 per game) and 3-point percentage (.407). Emani White is 2nd on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game, though she has played in just 16 games this season. In 12 conference games, White has averaged 9.7 points and is shooting just 32.7 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from 3-point range. Last week she led the team with 16 points in a loss to New Orleans, and has averaged 11.7 over the last three games.

Nicholls is still playing for a shot at the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, which comes with a double bye to the semifinals. The Colonels, who finish up on the road with Southeastern Louisiana, would need to win out and Lamar to drop its regular season finale against Sam Houston State for Nicholls to slide into the No. 2 position.

The Sugar Bears could finish as high as 3rd, or with a pair of losses could slip to as low as 7th for next week's tournament, which begins on Thursday, March. 12 with matchups between the No. 5 and No. 8 seeds and the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds.