CONWAY — Central Arkansas led nearly the entire way on Wednesday in a 72-53 win over Sam Houston State in front of 1,905 at the Farris Center as the Sugar Bears wrapped up one of the top two seeds in next month's Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas and, in turn, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the tournament semifinals.
The Sugar Bears (23-3, 13-2 Southland) have all but wrapped up the No. 1 seed for the tournament, sitting three games ahead of both Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin – each 10-5 in league play – with three games remaining in the regular season. The Sugar Bears are still in contention for the league's regular season title as well, but need some help over the final three games as Abilene Christian remains a game ahead at 14-1 with their win at Houston Baptist on Wednesday.
In Wednesday's win over the Bearkats (9-15, 5-9), the Sugar Bears took over early in the first quarter and never looked back, taking an 18-11 lead after one and extending it into a 33-22 halftime lead before pulling away with a 19-12 third quarter to lead 52-34 headed into the final period.
The Sugar Bears shot 54.5 percent for the game, their second highest mark of the season, including a 60-percent effort in a second half in which they did not attempt a single 3-point shot after going 2-for-7 from deep in the first half.
In the 19-point win, the Sugar Bears had a 19-point advantage in bench points, with
Taylor Strickland coming in to log a season-high 14 points in 14 minutes on 6 of 8 shooting.
Kendara Watts also had 14 for the Sugar Bears on 7 of 9 shooting.
Taylor Baudoin, this week's Southland Conference Player of the Week for her 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last week, turned in her team-best fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Jameka Watkins added 9 points and a career-high 12 assists, the most for a Sugar Bear this season, while
Brianna Mullins pitched in with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Central Arkansas had seven different players block a shot, led by Baudoin's pair, giving them 8 – their second-highest total of the season.
The Sugar Bears held the Bearkats to just 36 percent shooting for the game and 25 percent from 3-point range, and kept Shernise Robertson – the Southland's second-leading scorer at 20 points per game in conference games – to just 9 on 4 of 11 shooting. Angela Beadle led the Bearkats with 18 points and 10 rebounds after getting 23 and 12 in the Sugar Bears' win in Huntsville on Saturday.
With the victory, Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing logged the 73rd win during her tenure on the Sugar Bear sideline, making her the second-winningest coach in program history behind longtime coach Ron Marvel, who had 494 over 25 seasons. Rushing now sits at 476-299 for her career, which spans 27 seasons across all levels of NCAA basketball. She is enjoying the best Division I season of her career, which includes 11 seasons at UTEP. It is her most wins in a season since logging 28 at Delta State in 2010-11, the last of a 6-year run where she averaged more than 29 per season.
The Sugar Bears will attempt to tie their high mark for wins as a Division I program on Saturday when they travel to Southeastern Louisiana with an opportunity to match the 24 wins posted by the 2011-12 Sugar Bears.
The regular season will then conclude next week in the Farris Center as Nicholls and McNeese State visit on Wednesday and Saturday.
