CONWAY — Kierra Jordan had not played a game in more than 20 months.
Couldn't tell.
The 6-foot-1 Southern Miss transfer, who last played in a loss to Michigan in the WNIT in March of 2015, made her Sugar Bear debut on Monday and showed no rust as she scored 16 points and had a team-high 5 steals to go with 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists with no turnovers in just 15 minutes of play as Central Arkansas cruised to a 94-47 win over Central Baptist in the Farris Center.
Eligible for the first time after transferring mid-season last year,
Jordan stepped right in and had 12 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds and a pair of assists in 10 first-half minutes as the Sugar Bears quickly pulled away from the Lady Mustangs for their fifth straight win as they improved to 6-1 on the season.
The Sugar Bears held the Lady Mustangs to just three baskets in the first quarter as they built a 27-6 lead, then extended the lead to 33 at halftime on a heave from just inside half court from freshman
Maddie Goodner at the buzzer to make it 52-19. After the teams played to a 19-19 draw in the third quarter, the Sugar Bears poured it on again in the fourth, outscoring CBC 23-9 to roll to their third win of more than 40 points in their last four games.
Taylor Baudoin tied Jordan for the team lead in scoring with 16 on 8 of 9 shooting, and added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals in 23 minutes.
Taylor Strickland was 9 of 10 from the free throw line en route to 13 points, her fourth game in double figures this season.
Maggie Proffitt added 11, all in the first quarter when she was 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
In all, the Sugar Bear bench had 57 of the team's 94 points and outscored the CBC reserves 57-15.
Raquel Logan had a team-high 8 rebounds as Central Arkansas held a 45-35 advantage on the boards, and the Sugar Bears got 25 points off 24 CBC turnovers.
It was the final non-conference home game for the Sugar Bears, who have now won their last 14 non-conference games in the Farris Center. They finish their non-conference slate with three away from Conway, starting with Texas Tech on Wednesday before a pair of neutral site games against Liberty and Houston at UTSA next week. Southland Conference play begins on Dec. 31 back at home against Lamar.
