LAKE CHARLES, La. — With Saturday's win at Incarnate Word, Central Arkansas punched its ticket to next month's Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas, marking the sixth straight season for the Sugar Bears to qualify for the eight-team tournament to determine the league's representative in the NCAA Tournament.
Entering the final third of the conference race, the Sugar Bears (20-3, 10-2 Southland, No. 24 College Insider Mid-Major Poll) sit a game back of Abilene Christian for at least a piece of the league's regular-season crown, and – with ACU ineligible for postseason play due to their Division I reclassification – sit in the driver's seat for the top seed at the Southland tournament.
With Wednesday night's game at McNeese State (16-9, 8-5), the Sugar Bears can go a long way in strengthening their hold on the top spot, as a win would put them four games up on the Cowgirls – currently tied with Northwestern State for the 2nd seed – with five games left. It would also be just the second time the Cowgirls have lost at home this season, as they enter with a 10-1 home mark – the lone loss coming at the hands of Incarnate Word, a 68-55 Cardinals victory on Jan. 20. The Sugar Bears counter with an 8-1 road record, the lone loss coming at No. 4 Tennessee on Nov. 15. They have since won 10 straight away from the Farris Center, including a pair of neutral site games against South Carolina State and Campbell.
Though the Sugar Bears have won three of the last four meetings in Lake Charles, they have dropped their last three games to the Cowgirls – by a total of 10 points.
Last season, McNeese earned the season sweep with a pair of close victories – beating the Sugar Bears by two in Conway on a layup from Jayln Johnson with three seconds left, and withstanding a late Sugar Bear rally in Lake Charles to escape with a 72-68 win. Prior to that, the Cowgirls defeated the Sugar Bears in the 2014 Southland tournament, winning 66-62.
The Cowgirls are led by senior guards Johnson and Allison Baggett. Johnson averages 15.2 points per game for the season and 18.8 in conference play – which ranks 4th in the Southland. She also leads the league with 6.2 assists per game in league play and free throw percentage at 91.5. Baggett averages 15.2 points per game in Southland play and 13.9 for the season. She and Johnson have combined to hit 88 3-pointers, shooting a combined 36.8 percent.
McNeese is one of the Southland's most prolific scoring teams, ranking 2nd in the league at 70.6 points per game, but have also given up 71.4 per game – 12th in the Southland. The Sugar Bears, meanwhile, are 3rd nationally in scoring defense at 49.8 points per game. And over the last six games, the Sugar Bears have seen a spike in their offensive output as they've averaged 70.7 points per game, topping 70 in four of those games and scoring 67 in another.
Wednesday's game is the first of two on the road this week for the Sugar Bears, who are at Sam Houston State on Saturday before returning to the Farris Center next Wednesday for a rematch with the Bearkats.
