CONWAY — Less than two minutes into the first quarter of Saturday's game against the University of New Orleans, Central Arkansas' Raquel Logan sank a free throw to put the Sugar Bears ahead 3-2.
They would go on to lead the rest of the way.
The Sugar Bears got out to a 37-21 halftime lead and led by double figures for all but 11 seconds over the game's final 25 minutes as they cruised to 67-55 win over the Privateers in the Farris Center for their ninth straight win, giving them two separate nine-game streaks on the season.
The win keeps the Sugar Bears (19-2, 9-1 Southland) tied with Abilene Christian in the loss column at the top of the Southland standings, though ACU sits a half game ahead with a 10-1 league mark. With eight regular-season games remaining, it also marks the highest win total in a season for head coach Sandra Rushing at Central Arkansas, eclipsing the 18 wins by the 2013-14 team.
New Orleans outscored the Sugar Bears 34-30 in the second half, but were never a threat to end the Southland's longest active streak. The Central Arkansas lead hovered between 14 and 18 for most of the third quarter, climbing as high as 21 midway into the fourth before the Privateers closed the game on a 17-8 run, scoring six of the game's final seven points in the last 1:12 with the game well out of reach.
The Sugar Bears got a team-high 18 points from junior guard
Maggie Proffitt, who knocked down 4 of 8 3-pointers to lead the way as Central Arkansas finished 5 of 10 from long range.
Taylor Baudoin added 14 points,
Brianna Mullins had 13 to go with 5 rebounds and a season-high 8 assists, and
Kendara Watts added 11 points and 6 rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench.
After shooting 52.2 percent from the field in the first half, Central Arkansas finished the game shooting 43.5 percent and had 16 assists on its 20 field goals. New Orleans actually made one more field goal than did the Sugar Bears, but were just 2 of 7 from 3-point range and made 11 of 15 free throws compared to the Sugar Bears' 22 of 29 (75.9 percent).
The win is the third straight double-digit victory for the Sugar Bears, who have won their last three by an average of 19.7 points.
The Sugar Bears will return to action on Wednesday when they host Northwestern State to finish up their three-game homestand, looking for their 10th straight win – all in conference play. The program's record winning streak in Southland games is 11, set in 2012.
