CONWAY — Last season, Central Arkansas went through its Southland Conference slate with just two losses, finishing 16-2 – one game behind league champion Abilene Christian, which had beaten the Sugar Bears early in the conference season.

This year, the Sugar Bears again have two league losses and sit just behind Abilene Christian at the top of the league standings, having suffered a loss early in the conference season to the Wildcats.

This year, however, they get a second chance.

The Southland-leading Wildcats (15-7, 9-1 Southland) visit the Farris Center at 7pm on Wednesday for the rematch against the Sugar Bears (17-4, 9-2), looking for the season sweep after winning the first meeting 83-76 in Abilene on Jan. 7. 

The Sugar Bears – who sit tied in the loss column with Lamar and Stephen F. Austin for second place in the conference race – will aim to pull themselves into a tie for first by unseating the Wildcats, who have won the last two meetings in the series after winning 61-49 last year in Conway.

Over the last two seasons, the programs have combined to go 51-6 (.895) in Southland games with ACU claiming last year's regular season title and the Sugar Bears winning the conference tournament – which ACU will be ineligible for until next season due to their Division I reclassification period.

In this year's first meeting, the Sugar Bears led 20-16 after the first quarter but the Wildcats rallied in the second to take a 36-30 halftime lead. In the third quarter, ACU went on a tear as the Wildcats outscored the Sugar Bears 28-15 to take a lead as large as 19. The Sugar Bears rallied with a 31-19 fourth quarter to cut it to seven in the final minute, but it was too little, too late.

Kierra Jordan had 21 points in that game on 8-of-11 shooting, while Raquel Logan added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a team-high 8 rebounds, with those two combining for 24 fourth-quarter points. Maggie Proffitt and Brianna Mullins each scored 14 in the loss.

The Wildcats scored 83 points in that game, hitting 13 3-pointers (13 of 26, 50 percent) and 22 free throws – all season highs allowed by the Sugar Bears. ACU's Suzzy Dimba had 28 points – the most allowed to an opposing player by the Sugar Bears this season – and she and twin sister Lizzy were each 4-of-5 from 3-point range.

The game will feature two of the most prolific 3-point shooters in Division I – and in Southland history – in Proffitt and ACU's Alexis Mason. Mason ranks 3rd and Proffitt 4th in Southland history in 3-pointers made, with Mason 9th among all active players in D-I with 264 and Proffitt 21st with 237 – 34 shy of matching Carone Harris' program record.

It will also pit the Southland's two longest active winning streaks against one another as the Sugar Bears have reeled off eight straight since their loss at ACU, and the Wildcats have won six in a row since falling 70-61 at home to SFA on Jan. 12. The Wildcats are just 4-5 on the road this season, while the Sugar Bears are 9-1 in the Farris Center – where they are 45-12 overall and 25-7 in Southland games since 2014.

The Sugar Bears are closing in on a couple of milestones as head coach Sandra Rushing sits at 498 wins for her career, and Logan comes into the game needing four blocks to break Courtney Duever's program D-I record of 96.

After Wednesday's game, the Sugar Bears will head to Nicholls this weekend before returning to the Farris Center for three of the next four before finishing the regular season at Northwestern State on March 4.

Wednesday's game can be seen on the Bear Nation Network with Steve Owens on the call, or heard via audio-only broadcast from 91.3 FM The Bear, with pregame beginning at 6:40.