HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Sugar Bears will continue their quest for the top seed in next month's Southland Conference Tournament and the program's winningest Division I season when they visit Sam Houston State on Saturday in the first of back-to-back games with the Bearkats, who come to the Farris Center next Wednesday.
With five games remaining in the regular season, the Sugar Bears (21-3, 11-2 Southland) have distanced themselves from their nearest competitors in Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin, who sit 9-5 and 8-5, respectively, in the league standings. Those teams must still face one another on March 3rd. Landing one of the top two seeds in the tournament gets the Sugar Bears a double by to the tournament semifinals.
Abilene Christian still leads the conference standings at 12-1, but is ineligible for the tournament due to their Division I reclassification.
When they meet up with the Bearkats (9-14, 5-8) on Saturday, the Sugar Bears will be looking to eclipse 21 wins for just the second time in their 10 Division I seasons. It is the 4th time in the last 7 seasons the Sugar Bears have reached 21, with the program D-I record coming in the championship season of 2011-12 when they went 24-5 in the regular season.
To get to 22, the Sugar Bears must overcome the Southland's most prolific duo in 5-foot-6 senior guard Shernise Robertson and 6-3 senior center Angela Beadle, who combine for 37.2 points per game in conference play.
Robertson is the league's leading scorer at 20.4 points per game during the conference season, while Beadle is 8th at 16.8 points and also ranks 2nd in rebounding at 11.2 per game. Robertson also ranks 2nd in 3-point percentage, making 43.8 from long range and knocking down 3.0 per game. On the season, Robertson has accounted for nearly 54 percent of the Bearkats' 3-point total, with her 58 made being followed by Kamry Orr's 16. Robertson and Beadle have combined to take 45 percent of the Bearkats' shots this season, and have combined for 197 free throw attempts.
The Sugar Bears swept the Bearkats last season, winning by three in Conway before taking the return game in Huntsville by a count of 64-56. Robertson averaged 23 points in the two games, getting 32 in Conway before being held to 14 in Huntsville on 3 of 14 shooting. Beadle missed last season with injury, but had 15 points and 6 rebounds in her last game against the Sugar Bears in 2014.
A win would give the Sugar Bears five straight over the Bearkats, and also mark the 12th straight victory away from the Farris Center. It would also be the 72nd for head coach Sandra Rushing at Central Arkansas, which would tie her with Matt Daniel for second most in program history – trailing only longtime Sugar Bear coach Ron Marvel's 494. Rushing, who has 474 career wins, is already enjoying her best Division I season with the highest win total and best winning percentage in her 15 years between Central Arkansas and UTEP, where she coached from 1990-2001.
At 50.0 points allowed per game, the Sugar Bears rank 4th nationally in scoring defense and are on pace to break both the program and Southland Conference record. Over the last five games of the regular season, the Sugar Bears would need to allow 73.4 points per game to fall short of the UCA record of 54.0 set in 2011-12, and would need to allow 59.4 the rest of the way to slip behind UT-Arlington's Southland record of 51.6 set in 2005-06.
The Bearkats rank 3rd in the Southland in conference games with a 68 points per game scoring average, and are 10th at 62.6 for the season. They are also 11th in scoring defense, allowing 69.5 per game in Southland play. The Sugar Bears average 64.2 points per game for the season and 64.8 during conference play, but have increased their output of late – topping the 70-point mark in 5 of their last 7 games and averaging 70.6 per game during that stretch.
After the consecutive games with the Bearkats, the Sugar Bears travel to Southeastern Louisiana next Saturday before wrapping up the regular season in the Farris Center on Mar. 2 and 5 against Nicholls and McNeese.
