LAKE CHARLES, La. — A dominant second quarter was all Central Arkansas needed to blow Tuesday's game at McNeese wide open as the Sugar Bears outscored the Cowgirls 27-8 in the period to build a 23-point halftime lead that they would maintain through the second half for a 72-49 win at the Lake Charles Civic Center.
In winning their seventh game in a row, the Sugar Bears (16-4, 8-2 Southland) scored their fifth straight victory over the Cowgirls (10-11, 5-5) – running their series lead to 16-8 after outscoring the Cowgirls by an average of 16.8 points over the five-game streak.
After a slow start in which they opened 2 of 7 from the field, the Sugar Bears went on to make 27 of 43 the rest of the way en route to a season-high 58 percent shooting percentage, while knocking down a season-high seven 3-pointers – finishing 7 of 14, led by Maggie Proffitt's 6 of 9 en route to a game-high 22 points.
After building a modest 16-12 lead after the 1st quarter, the Sugar Bears pulled away from the Cowgirls in the second as they made 11 of 14 (78.6 percent) from the field as they added 19 points to the margin to go into the locker room up 43-20.
The Cowgirls would outscore the Sugar Bears 15-14 in the third, but could draw no closer than 18 as the Sugar Bears returned the favor in the fourth quarter with the teams battling to a 29-29 stalemate in the second half.
Proffitt's six 3-pointers is her season high and ties for the second-highest total of her career, with her only time to hit more coming during her freshman season when she hit eight against Central Baptist College on Nov. 14, 2013. It's the third time she has knocked down six against a Southland team, doing so against Southeastern Louisiana last season and Northwestern State in 2015.
Taylor Baudoin had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting while also grabbing 6 rebounds with a pair of blocked shots. Brianna Mullins narrowly missed her second double-double of the season with 9 points and 9 rebounds while also adding a team-high 5 assists. Mullins has averaged 12.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists over the last four games. Raquel Logan added 8 points, 6 rebounds and a block in 15 minutes.
Frederica Haywood had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Cowgirls.
By holding the Cowgirls to 49, the Sugar Bears keep their opponent below 50 for the 10th time this season, including the fourth time in 10 Southland Conference games. The Sugar Bears win despite being above 20 turnovers for the third time in their last four games, the only three times this season they've had more than 18. Central Arkansas is now 7-3 this season when committing more turnovers than its opponent.
At 8-2, Central Arkansas sits just behind Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian – both 7-1 – atop the Southland Conference standings.
The Sugar Bears return to the Farris Center on Saturday for a doubleheader between Central Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana, with the Sugar Bears and Lady Lions leading off a 2:00pm.
