HAMMOND, La. — For the second time in program history, Central Arkansas will be the top seed in the Southland Conference Tournament.

The Sugar Bears, behind a career-high 32 points from junior guard Maggie Proffitt, held off Southeastern Louisiana on the Lady Lions' Senior Day for a 64-60 win to wrap up the No. 1 seed and a semifinal berth in the league's tournament at Katy, Texas in two weeks.

With the victory, the Sugar Bears (24-3, 14-2 Southland) tie the program's Division I record for wins in a season, Southland wins in a season, and for the first time in program history complete a conference road slate with an unblemished record – having won all 9 league games on the road. In all, the Sugar Bears have now won 13 straight games away from the Farris Center.

In a tightly contested game that featured 12 ties and 5 lead changes, the teams were separated by double digits for only 20 seconds at the end of an 11-0 Sugar Bear run to put Central Arkansas ahead 22-11 in the first quarter. The Lady Lions quickly answered with an 11-4 spurt to cut the Sugar Bear lead to four, and the teams remained close the rest of the way.

The Lady Lions led by three early in the fourth quarter, but five straight points from Proffitt put the Sugar Bears back ahead with 6:50 to go and they would not trail again. Southeastern tied the game for the 12th and final time with 3:38 left, but Proffitt again broke the tie with a pair of free throws, putting the Sugar Bears ahead for good. 

Southeastern had cut its deficit to just one at 61-60 with 52 seconds to go on a Bre Warren 3-pointer, but the Sugar Bears were able to get an answer on the other end and burn 36 seconds in the process as Kendara Watts scored after grabbing an offensive rebound, making it 63-60 with 16 ticks remaining.

As they've done so often this season, the Sugar Bears relied on their defense in the final moments to put the game away. With the Lady Lions attempting to inbound the ball on their baseline with 12 seconds showing, a freshly-inserted Raquel Logan intercepted the inbounds pass. On the Lions' next possession, they inbounded the ball to Taylin Underwood in the corner with Proffitt applying pressure, and was forced to step on the sideline, giving the ball back to Central Arkansas with 5 seconds left. Taylor Baudoin then knocked down the first of her two free throws for the game's final point, sending the Sugar Bears to their fourth win in their last five trips to the University Center.

Proffitt finished the day 12 of 24 from the field, including 6 of 14 from 3-point range en route to her career high 32. She now has 188 3-pointers for her career, putting her one shy of Traci Graham for second in program history. Baudoin added 11 points and a team-high 6 rebounds and Watts had 10 and 5.

Nanna Pool had 25 points and 9 rebounds for Southeastern in her final home game, while fellow senior Erica Hernandez added 15 points.

The Sugar Bears return home for the final week of the regular season, hosting Nicholls (7-9 Southland) on Wednesday and McNeese State (11-6) on Saturday.