CONWAY — After knocking off Southland Conference leader Stephen F. Austin on the road on Wednesday, the Sugar Bears come home riding the Southland's longest winning streak at 5 games as they host Incarnate Word at 2:00pm on Saturday. It will be the first half of a doubleheader in the Farris Center, with the Central Arkansas and Incarnate Word men to follow.

The Sugar Bears (14-4, 6-2 Southland) now sit tied with Lamar a half game back of SFA and Abilene Christian atop the conference standings. They welcome a UIW team that is 5-15 overall and 3-6 in the league after dropping their last two to SFA and ACU. The Cardinals' last win was a 96-56 rout of Southeastern Louisiana last Thursday.

After going 4-1 in road games after playing five of their last six away from home, the Sugar Bears begin a stretch where five of their next seven will be in the Farris Center, where they are 7-1 this season and 43-12 (.782) since 2014. The Cardinals are 2-7 on the road this season, getting back-to-back wins at Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana to begin conference play. 

Saturday's game will be the fourth meeting between the programs, with the Sugar Bears having won each of the previous three meetings by an average of 16 points. Last season, the Sugar Bears won 76-67 in San Antonio. 

In the first four wins of their current win streak, the Sugar Bears allowed just 48.3 points per game before giving up 63 to SFA – still nearly 19 points beneath their Southland scoring average – and sit 6th nationally in scoring defense for the season, allowing 52.9 points per game.

During the winning streak, the Sugar Bears have gotten 16 points and 4.2 rebounds per game from Maggie Proffitt, who has hit 39.3 percent of her 3-point attempts during that five-game span. Kierra Jordan has added 13.8 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds while shooting 56.8 percent from the field, and Taylor Baudoin has chipped in with 9.0 points and 6.2 rebounds. Those three have shot a combined 83 percent (44 of 53) from the free throw line during the streak.

The Cardinals counter with four of the Southland's top 22 scorers, who account for nearly 80 percent of UIW's 65.3 points per game this season. Leading the way is 5-foot-11 senior forward Celia Garcia Paunero, who is 3rd in the Southland at 17.8 points per game and is the league's leading rebounder, averaging 10.8. Cheyenne Berry – a 7th-year senior who has previously played at SFA and Tarleton State – is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.2 per game. Freshman guard Imani Robinson averages 10.9 points, and junior guard Haley Frias – who leads the Southland with 57 3-pointers this season – averages 10.2, including a 42-point effort against LSU-Alexandria, a game in which she went 12 of 23 from 3-point range.

UIW is coached by Christy Smith, a former all-american guard at the University of Arkansas who led the Razorbacks to the Final Four in 1998. Smith, in her first season at UIW and as a collegiate head coach, had previously served as an assistant at Arkansas, Purdue and Valparaiso.

By contrast, Sugar Bears veteran coach Sandra Rushing will be on the sideline for her 800th game as a collegiate head coach – sporting a 495-304 (.620) record over 28 seasons at Central Arkansas, Delta State, Henderson State, UTEP and Millsaps. Over her last 50 games leading the Sugar Bears, Rushing is 42-8 (.840) dating back to the start of last season.

After Saturday's game, the Sugar Bears will take to the road to visit McNeese on Tuesday before coming home Feb. 4 & 8 against Southeastern Louisiana and Abilene Christian. 

Saturday's game can be seen on the Bear Nation Network or heard on 91.3 FM The Bear. Pregame with Steve Owens begins at 1:40pm.