CONWAY — Going for what would be a new program Division I-era record 12-game winning streak, the Sugar Bears host Houston Baptist at 2:00pm on Saturday in the next-to-last home game of the season, trying to keep themselves in position for a Southland Conference championship.

The Sugar Bears (20-4, 12-2 Southland) who have the 7th-longest active winning streak in Division I and sit atop the league standings – a half game ahead of 11-2 Abilene Christian – with four games remaining, putting them in position for a possible split championship with the Wildcats.

It's a position the Sugar Bears are familiar with, as last season they were tied with the Wildcats midway through February in the chase for the league crown. But, a home loss to Northwestern State derailed that run and the Sugar Bears finished second at 16-2 behind the 17-1 Wildcats.

They will look to avoid a similar letdown this time around, entering the home stretch with 11th-place HBU (5-18 overall, 3-10 Southland) and a trip to 12th-place Southeastern Louisiana (5-20, 3-11) – a pair of teams the Sugar Bears have beaten by a combined 53 points already this season – before 4th-place Stephen F. Austin (19-5, 10-3) visits the Farris Center next Saturday and the regular-season finale at Northwestern State – winners of three of their last four, including a win over SFA – the following weekend.

On Saturday, the Sugar Bears meet an HBU team they defeated 80-49 in Houston last month, a game in which Maggie Proffitt hit five 3-pointers en route to 29 points and Kierra Jordan poured in 22 on 8-of-11 shooting in a game in which the Sugar Bears led for all but 26 seconds.

It was a different story when the teams met last season in the Farris Center, when the Sugar Bears needed three free throws from Olivia McWilliams with three seconds left to escape with the 45-44 win.

However, players who accounted for 84 percent of the scoring and 85 percent of the rebounding for the Huskies in that game are no longer part of the program, as HBU's roster has just one senior to go with 14 freshmen and sophomores.

Heidi Byrd is the lone Husky with more than one season of collegiate experience. The senior guard comes in averaging 8.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, and is the Huskies' leading 3-point shooter at 37.5 percent, making 30 of 80 on the season. Sophomore Lisa Zderadicka leads HBU in scoring at 11.1 per game.

The Huskies are averaging just 56 points per game for the year, shooting 33.7 percent while being out rebounded by more than six per game and committing more than 18 turnovers per contest.

The Sugar Bears come into Saturday's game ranked 6th in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 53.2 points per game, and are 7th in the nation in field goal percentage (47.5) and 15th in scoring margin (15.9). 

The Sugar Bears will be going for their 25th win in the Farris Center over the past two seasons, sitting at 24-3 (.889) since the start of the 2015-16 season. They are on pace for their best two-year run in the Farris Center during their Division I era, and best overall since going 29-3 at home from 2003-05 in Division II.

Pregame for Saturday's broadcast on the Bear Nation Network and 91.3 FM The Bear begin at 1:40.