CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Central Arkansas' quest for a repeat Southland Conference championship begins Thursday at 1:00pm in Corpus Christi at the Dugan Wellness Center as the Sugar Bears meet up with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the 2017-18 Southland opener for both teams.

With a 16-2 Southland record for the second straight year, the Sugar Bears shared the league title with Abilene Christian last season before going on to win the league tournament for the second consecutive year. They'll look to repeat as regular season champions and aim for three in a row at the tournament in Katy, and it all starts with their 15th meeting in the series against the Islanders – which the Sugar Bears lead 8-6.

Both teams come into the matchup with 7-4 records, with the Sugar Bears coming off a championship at the FIU Holiday Classic with wins over Clemson and North Dakota State; and the Islanders winners of 5 of their last 6.

As league play begins, reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week and preseason All-Southland selection Taylor Baudoin leads the Sugar Bears with 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, shooting 53.1 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from 3-point range and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

Junior guard Kamry Orr is scoring 12.8 per game for the Sugar Bears and is coming off a solid outing at FIU where she averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals.

Baudoin (2nd), Orr (10th) and Taylor Sells (4th) are all in the top 10 in the conference in field goal percentage for the season. Angel Williams leads the conference in 3-point percentage at 42.4 percent, leading three Sugar Bears in the top 10 with Maddie Goodner 4th (40 percent) and Orr 9th (34.5).

The Sugar Bears start Southland play ranking 2nd in the nation in scoring defense at 50.3 points allowed per game, the only Southland team ahead of the Islanders – who rank 2nd in the league and 15th nationally at 54.1.

The Islanders are led in scoring by Brittany Mbamalu at 12.3 points per game on the strength of her 2.8 3-pointers per game (also 3rd in the Southland), with sophomore Emma Young ranking 3rd in the league in rebounding at 7.5 per game.

The Sugar Bears will open conference play without head coach Sandra Rushing, who left Corpus Christi on Wednesday to be with her ill father in Mississippi. Associate Head Coach Greg Long will assume head coaching duties in her absence.

Following Thursday's game, the Sugar Bears return home for three straight in the Farris Center, beginning with a doubleheader with the Bears on Sunday against Southeastern Louisiana beginning at 1:00pm.

FOLLOW
• Radio broadcast with Steve Owens on The Bear 91.3 & streaming online, with pregame beginning at 12:40
• Live stats & video available via GoIslanders.com
• Follow @ucasports, @ucascoreboard and @ucawbb on Twitter

NOTES
• The Sugar Bears are 8-6 all time against the Islanders, but have won 8 of the last 10, including the last 4
• The Sugar Bears have won 3 of the last 4 meetings in Corpus Christi, winning by 8 points last season and 11 in 2016
• The last meeting between the teams came on March 11 in the semifinals of the Southland Conference tournament in Katy, Texas. The Sugar Bears prevailed 62-44 to advance to the championship game where they disposed of Stephen F. Austin 60-35 to claim their second straight tournament title
• In that meeting, Taylor Baudoin had 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Kierra Jordan added 10 points and 6 rebounds. Baudoin averaged 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds against the Islanders last season, going for 16 and 8 in the regular-season meeting
• Though the Sugar Bears are 36-4 (.900) vs Southland teams the last two seasons, they are 0-2 in Southland openers, having fallen 70-56 vs Lamar last season and 61-49 to Abilene Christian in 2015-16, with both losses coming in the Farris Center
• The Sugar Bears were 21-1 (.955) against Southland teams away from the Farris Center the past two seasons, including 17-1 (.944) in true road games
• Beginning their 12th season in the league, the Sugar Bears have an all-time Southland record of 113-73 (.608) in the regular season
• Over the last 8 seasons, in which the Sugar Bears have been the league's winningest program averaging 21.3 wins per season, they are 98-40 (.710) in Southland play