CONWAY — After suffering a setback to Lamar in Saturday's Southland Conference opener, Central Arkansas responded in a big way – throttling Northwestern State 76-43 in the Farris Center Monday night.

The Sugar Bears (9-3, 1-1 Southland) never trailed – taking the lead for good less than two minutes in and continually pulling away for their most lopsided win over the Lady Demons (6-7, 0-2) since a 41-point win in 2012.

The Sugar Bears needed just the first and fourth quarters to outscore the Lady Demons for the night, putting up 23 in the opening period and closing the game out with a 25-point effort in the final quarter, where they shot 90 percent (9 of 10) from the field and 7 of 9 at the free throw line.

After getting just 15 free throw attempts in the conference opener, the Sugar Bears had considerably more success at the line on Monday, making a season-high 22 on 26 attempts – good for 84.6 percent, also the team's best mark this season.

It wasn't just the free throw line where the Sugar Bears did their damage, however, as they shot 52 percent (26 of 50) and outscored the Lady Demons 44-20 in the paint. NSU, meanwhile, was held to 31.9 percent shooting from the field and was just 1 of 7 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range.

Kierra Jordan – facing her former coach in NSU's Jordan Dupuy, formerly the associate head coach at Southern Miss – had a game-high 19 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes to lead the Sugar Bears. She was one of four Central Arkansas players to reach double digits in scoring, with Maggie Proffitt getting 13, Raquel Logan 11 and Taylor Strickland 10. Mullins equaled Jordan's rebound total of 6, and added a game-high 7 assists – giving her 18 over her last three games, her best stretch of the season. Angel Williams, making her fourth start of the season, tied a career high with 9 points.

The Lady Demons were led by 16 points from Beatrice Attura, who had 34 in NSU's conference opener against McNeese. Cheyenne Brown added 11, and Shahd Abboud was the only other Lady Demon to finish with more than two points, logging 8.

The Sugar Bears will now take to the road for their next three, beginning with a clash against defending Southland champion and preseason favorite Abilene Christian Saturday on ESPN3.