HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Central Arkansas continued its run of success on the road this season, winning for the 12th straight time away from the Farris Center and improving to 10-1 in road games as the Sugar Bears defeated Sam Houston State 73-63 in Huntsville on Saturday.
The Sugar Bears (22-3, 12-2 Southland) continued their offensive surge, topping the 70-point mark for the third straight game and sixth time in their last eight games as they won their fifth straight over the Bearkats (9-15, 5-9 Southland).
The win moves the Sugar Bears another step closer to wrapping up the top seed in next month's Southland Conference tournament, with Northwestern State sitting at 10-5 and Stephen F. Austin 9-5.
The Sugar Bears got out to a 40-34 halftime lead after shooting 56.7 percent in the first half, but the Bearkats came out with the first six points of the second half on a pair of Shernise Robertson 3-pointers to tie the game at 40. With the game tied at 44, the Sugar Bears went on a 9-1 run to pull ahead by eight and would lead the rest of the way – eventually building the lead to 11 late in the 4th quarter.
Maggie Proffitt led all players with 25 points, her sixth 20-point game of the season, and moved past Micah Rice for 3rd on the Central Arkansas Division I career scoring list with 1,076 points – trailing only Megan Herbert's 2,329 and Courtney Duever's 1,335.
Taylor Baudoin, coming off a 20-point performance in Wednesday's win at McNeese, followed that up with 19 points and 7 rebounds on Saturday.
Brianna Mullins notched a season-high 11 assists as the Sugar Bears registered assists on 24 of their 28 made baskets, with
Jameka Watkins also adding 6.
The Sugar Bears also committed just a season-low four turnovers, while forcing SHSU into 13 and scoring 18 points off those Bearkat miscues.
Angela Beadle led SHSU with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Robertson, the Southland's leading scorer, was limited to 5 first-half points but finished the game with 15, .
The win marks the 2nd time the Sugar Bears have reached at least 22 wins in a season in their 10 years in Division I, trailing only the 24 wins from the 2011-12 season. It also marked the 72nd win at Central Arkansas for head coach Sandra Rushing, pulling her into a tie with Matt Daniel as the second-winningest coach in program history.
The Sugar Bears return home for a rematch with the Bearkats on Wednesday, then hit the road to face Southeastern Louisiana next Saturday before wrapping up the regular season at home against Nicholls and McNeese on March 2 and 5.
