CONWAY —
Taylor Strickland had a career-high 23 points and 9 rebounds and
Brianna Mullins had her fourth career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Sugar Bears cruised to a 71-39 win over crosstown foe Hendrix College in the season opener in the Farris Center on Friday.
The Sugar Bears (1-0) won the intra-city matchup against the Division III Warriors for the second straight season, having opened last year with a 72-43 victory.
The Warriors took an early 9-8 lead on Friday, but the Sugar Bears regained the lead just 24 seconds later as they began an 11-0 run to finish out the quarter and went on to outscore the Warriors 22-7 in the second quarter en route to building a 41-16 halftime lead.
With 10 Sugar Bears logging double-digit minutes and the 11th getting 9, the Warriors were able to play it closer in the second half as the Sugar Bears outscored Hendrix just 30-23 over the final two quarters.
Strickland had her best game as a Sugar Bear with career highs of both 23 points and 9 rebounds, easily eclipsing her previous highs of 14 and 4. She was 9 of 14 from the field and 5 of 6 at the free throw line.
Mullins had 13 points and led the Sugar Bears in rebounds (10), assists (5) and steals (4) in 27 minutes. Senior guard
Maggie Proffitt had 15 points in 19 minutes for UCA, including 11 in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting. Junior forward
Taylor Baudoin added 8 points and 8 rebounds.
The Sugar Bears shot 46.7 percent for the game while holding Hendrix to 25.5 percent, and outrebounded the Warriors 47-30. UCA forced Hendrix into 15 turnovers, getting 10 steals, while committing only 8 turnovers on the other end. UCA finished with 16 assists, with nine of the 11 Sugar Bears logging at least one.
Leah Boehl led Hendrix with1 2 points, while Madison Martin added 11 and a team-high 8 rebounds.
The competition picks up in a hurry for the Sugar Bears, who travel to College Station to take on No. 23 Texas A&M Sunday at 6:00pm. After their matchup with the Aggies, the Sugar Bears return to the Farris Center for their next four before a Dec. 14 trip to Texas Tech.
