CONWAY — The outcome was never in doubt on Tuesday as Central Arkansas scored the game's first 21 points and dominated from wire to wire, routing Crowley's Ridge College 106-23 in the Farris Center.
The win was both the most points scored and the widest margin of victory for the Sugar Bears (3-1) in their six seasons under head coach Sandra Rushing, and was the program's largest margin in its NCAA Division I era and most since a 91-point victory over Puerto-Rico Cayey in 2003 during the program's time in Division II.
In routing the NAIA Division II Lady Pioneers (3-6), the Sugar Bears had six players score in double figures, including 45 points from the freshman trio of Hannah Langhi, Mekaylan Hicks and Savannah Lowe. Langhi had 19 points and 8 rebounds to lead all players in both categories, while Hicks had 14 and 7 in just 16 minutes. Lowe added 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc while also grabbing 5 rebounds.
Junior guard Kamry Orr scored 15 points in 16 minutes, shooting 7 of 10. Seniors Taylor Baudoin and Kierra Jordan each reached double figures with 11 and 10, respectively, while recording 3 blocked shots apiece. Maddie Goodner and Antonija Bozic each added 9 points, with both hitting three 3-pointers as the Sugar Bears knocked down 13 of 27 (48.1 percent) from long range.
Senior guard Angel Williams had a career high 9 assists in 21 minutes, also scoring 5 points and hauling in 4 rebounds.
The Sugar Bears shot 59.4 percent for the game, limiting the Lady Pioneers to just 14.9 (7 of 47). CRC never scored more than 7 in a quarter – being held to just 4 in the fourth – while the Sugar Bears had at least 26 in three of the four quarters including a high of 31 in the final frame, their highest-scoring quarter of the season.
CRC was led by Chelsie Spence's 9 points, with Alexus Taylor and Jaelyan Jones each adding 5.
The Sugar Bears face a quick turnaround – and a large uptick in competition – as they hit the road on Wednesday for a meeting with No. 12 Tennessee Thursday night in Knoxville.
NOTES
• The win was the 17th consecutive non-conference home victory for the Sugar Bears
• The Sugar Bears have defeated the Lady Pioneers by 209 points in their meetings the last three seasons, an average margin of victory of 69.7
• The Sugar Bears' three wins this season have come by an average of 55 points
• In their three wins, the Sugar Bears have allowed just 32.3 points per game
• The 106 points is the 2nd time the Sugar Bears have broken the 100-point mark under Coach Rushing, and equals the program's highest point total since getting 106 against Houston Baptist in 2010
QUOTES
Associate Head Coach Greg Long
"The freshmen played a lot of minutes and did a great job. We're really proud of them. They've been working so hard in practice, that's something Coach has been talking about quite a bit, and people saw tonight how hard they're working. They get to go up against Tay B and KJ every day in practice and they don't hold back on them, so they're growing up."
"Glad everybody got to play and do what they did tonight, but there's still a lot to learn from this game film too, and soon as we're done here and I get home, I'm going to go break it down because I might as well not sleep tonight [given the team's early-morning departure for Tennessee]."
"They've got some size, and I think they're playing a little more as a team than they did last year. They're more long and athletic, they're going to get after you and they'll press us, do what Tennessee does. They're going to have to be off. They're going to get our best shot, though. That's something we're going to talk about with the girls. We're going to have to show up and play. To go to Rocky Top and play Tennessee is a great experience, but we're looking for a lot of things out of our girls. We're not playing for one game whether it's Crowley's Ridge or Tennessee. We're trying to get better and win a championship."
