CONWAY — Last year's Southland Conference co-champions meet again on Saturday as Central Arkansas and Abilene Christian square off at 1:00pm in the Farris Center in the first of their two clashes this season.

It will open a doubleheader, with the Bears taking on the Wildcats afterward at 3:30. The games will be broadcast on ESPN3, available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app, with Jeff Brightwell and Stan Humphries on the call. The games can also be heard on The Bear 91.3.

After each finishing 16-2 in Southland play last season and splitting their series 1-1 with each team winning on their home floor, the Sugar Bears and Wildcats are once again heavily involved in the league's title race nearing the halfway point of the conference season.

Both teams entered the week 6-0 in conference play and were tied atop the league standings. That changed on Wednesday, however, as the Sugar Bears (13-5, 6-1) fell at home to New Orleans while the Wildcats (12-5, 6-1) came up short at Stephen F. Austin, which remains the league's lone unbeaten at 6-0.

Now they are both looking to avoid their first Southland losing streak since 2015, as the two programs have been wildly successful within the league over the last two seasons with ACU posting a 39-4 conference record and the Sugar Bears just behind at 38-5. They have combined for fewer league losses than the next closest team in SFA at 32-10. The Sugar Bears are 42-5 against Southland teams overall during that span, with a 4-0 tournament record. Despite winning at least a share of the last two regular season titles, ACU has been ineligible for postseason play due to the NCAA-mandated reclassification period as they have transitioned from Division II. This is the Wildcats' first year eligible after completing the process last season.

This year's ACU team bears little resemblance to last year's squad, losing its top four scorers and returning just 30 percent of its scoring and 39 percent of its rebounding from a year ago. Even with the departure of All-Southland performers Alexis Mason, Lizzy and Suzzy Dimba and Sydney Shelstead, the Wildcats have not missed a beat – increasing their scoring average from 72.3 points per game last season to 76.1 this year, and knocking down 9.6 3-pointers per game (10th in the nation) at a 34.4 percent clip compared to 8.6 and 33.3 percent last season.

ACU has four players averaging at least 10 points per game in conference play, led by Brianna Wright at 16.1. Sara Williamson follows at 14.1, Dominique Golightly at 12.9 and Sierra Allen at 10.1. Allen and Golightly are the team's leading rebounders at 7.7 and 7.4 per game.

The Wildcats and Sugar Bears are tied atop the Southland in field goal percentage for the season, making 43.9 percent. The Sugar Bears are first in field goal percentage defense at 36.2, which ranks 36th nationally. The teams are 1-2 in the league in 3-point percentage, with UCA leading the way at 35.8 just ahead of the Wildcats' 34.4, though ACU has made 4 more per game. The Wildcats top the Southland in rebound margin at +8.0 per game, with the Sugar Bears third at +5.5. The Sugar Bears have out rebounded their opponents in 10 straight games.

After Saturday's game, the Sugar Bears will hit the road for two next week, beginning with a trip to current league leader SFA on Wednesday before a trip to Northwestern State on Saturday.

FOLLOW
• Watch on ESPN3 via WatchESPN or the ESPN App
• Radio broadcast on The Bear 91.3 and streaming online with pregame beginning at 12:40
• Live Stats
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NOTES
• The Sugar Bears lead the series with the Wildcats 3-2, with a 1-1 mark in Conway
• ACU's Breanna Wright (6 points) and Sara Williamson (2) are the only remaining Wildcats to score in last season's meeting in the Farris Center
• Kierra Jordan averaged 15 points last season against ACU, scoring 21 in the loss in Abilene and getting 9 in the win in Conway
• The Sugar Bears are looking to avoid back-to-back home losses for the first time since dropping three straight to Southern Illinois, Southern Miss and Arkansas State in December of 2013. The last time the Sugar Bears lost consecutive Southland games at home was to Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in February of 2013
• ACU has played just four true road games this season, sporting a 1-3 record. The lone win was an 80-75 victory at McNeese, and the losses have come at SMU (65-44), Arkansas (79-65) and SFA (66-55)