GAME INFORMATION
CENTRAL ARKANSAS (0-0) vs. Central Baptist (1-0)
November 6, 2018 • 7:00pm • Farris Center • Conway, Ark.

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Series History
Central Arkansas leads 9-0
Last meeting: Central Arkansas 75, Central Baptist 34 (12/7/17)



CONWAY — In each of the past three seasons, Central Arkansas has won at least 25 games – one of just 17 Division I women's basketball programs to do so.

On Tuesday, the Sugar Bears begin their quest to make it four in a row as they tip off the 2018-19 season in the Farris Center against Central Baptist at 7:00pm.

And they'll do so with largely a new-look cast, returning only two starters and five players who saw more than 9 minutes per game in 2017-18 – bringing in three freshmen, a junior college transfer, and adding center Alexyse Thomas to the mix after sitting out last season following her transfer from Wright State.

Though just two years removed from a Southland Conference championship and the second of back-to-back NCAA Tournament trips, the Sugar Bears have just two players remaining – junior guards Maddie Goodner and Taylor Sells – from those teams.

And despite the lack of battle-tested experience, head coach Sandra Rushing – entering her 7th season at Central Arkansas – couldn't be happier.

"I like this group," said Rushing, who is 129-60 with the Sugar Bears, including 79-19 (.806) the last three seasons. "They're inexperienced and young – and my freshmen are like sponges and their heads are spinning, but I can tell you when that bulb goes on, they're going to be pretty good. Right now we don't know what this team is going to do and we're still trying to find ourselves – but they really committed this summer to the weight room, practices have been great, and it's been a joy to be around this team."

Though Tuesday marks the regular season opener, the Sugar Bears had a pair of warmups in two closed scrimmages in the preseason – giving Rushing and her staff an idea of where they are as they approach the non-conference slate that features five home games and road tests against the likes of Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Kansas State.

"We haven't gotten everything in yet, but we're playing hard," she said. "Our first scrimmage went OK, but I thought the second went pretty well. We'll see what happens Tuesday night."

With the loss of all-conference forward Taylor Baudoin and Kierra Jordan along with four-year veteran guard Angel Williams, the Sugar Bears must replace nearly half their scoring and 40 percent of their minutes from last year's 25-10 team that finished 14-4 in Southland play and was runner-up in the WBI postseason tournament.

"We're not a veteran team anymore – there are a lot of new people," said Goodner, who made 14 starts and averaged 18.2 minutes per game last season, up from 9.4 as a freshman. "But I feel like young is good for us. The hard work and dedication this team has will separate us from most teams. We may be inexperienced, but the young and new are hungry for more. A veteran team might know what it takes to win championships, but sometimes might want to take shortcuts and not work as hard. The new people come in and want to play and get off the bench, so they want to work their tails off to get out there and I think that's what they've done."

Senior guard Kamry Orr, a preseason all-conference selection who was 2nd on the team last season in scoring at 12.5 per game, is the only Sugar Bear returning to average more than 5.4 points – leaving plenty of opportunities on the offensive end.

"We're going to be able to score," Rushing said. "We might not know exactly who it's going to be every night, especially early on, but that's OK. We'll figure it out as we go, and we know we have plenty of players who can score – we just haven't been through it to know where it's going to come from consistently, but that's going to be part of the fun of watching this team grow as we work toward conference and chasing a championship."

Behind Orr, senior Antonija Bozic averaged 5.4 per game – hitting a team-leading 53 3-pointers – and Sells averaged 5.2. Forward Mekaylan Hicks added 4.2 per game in her freshman season, with freshman Hannah Langhi next at 2.7, Goodner at 2.3 and Savannah Lowe at 1.8 on 50 percent 3-point shooting.

All will have a chance to see increased roles in the offense this season.

"Coach really needs me to step up and be a leader and more of a scorer this season," Goodner said. "I'm not going to get 20 every game, that's not what she's asking – she's just asking for a little here and there so I can help out as much as possible. I need to focus on getting 6-8 points more than what I have been, and step up more in that role of a scorer and help take some of the load off the others so they don't have to work as hard on the offensive end all the time.

"In the offseason it was shoot, shoot and more shooting," she said. "This year is going to be different for me. I feel like my shot is finally where I want it to be – I've been working on it and I'm happy with my progress. I feel confident and comfortable and know what shots to take and which ones not to take, and when to deliver the ball where it needs to be. My role as one of the older players on the team is going to be different – and I'm looking forward to being more of a leader and helping teach the others."

For Bozic, who hit 36.8 percent of her shots from long range last season and had 8 games scoring in double figures but 18 with 3 points or less, finding more consistency in her final season is of primary focus.

"I hope I can be more consistent – with my shooting, but also beyond just being a scorer," she said. "I also want to be consistent with the things I'm not as good at – defense, passing, things like that. I need to continue to work on those areas and get better and more comfortable on the floor not just shooting-wise. There are many ways to help the team and lead, and I have always been the one to encourage people, and that hasn't changed, so I know I need to stay positive and keep working hard on those other things throughout the year to be able to contribute as much as possible."

One of Bozic's fellow seniors – guard Alanie Fisher, enters her last season excited about the prospects of a full year injury-free a season after being slowed following ACL surgery coming out of Coffeyville Community College. After being cleared mid-season, Fisher was limited to 76 minutes over 12 games and had her best outing with 5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist in 15 minutes in a 51-45 win at McNeese in February.

"I feel great," said Fisher, who was an All-Jayhawk Conference selection at Coffeyville after averaging 12.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game during her sophomore season. "I feel like I can do a lot more than I could last year, and it feels awesome. Last year, at first it was like I had to watch myself – I didn't want to get hurt again. Now I'm just 'go – give it your all, it's your last year'. I want to step up because I am a senior, and people can look up to me – I think that's important for them to have. Kam and Antonija do a great job, and I want to help them out. We want to get a ring and put a banner up – that's our main goal this year."

And to get that ring, the Sugar Bears have had to get stronger.

"We had a really tough offseason," said Orr. "We've really been hitting the weight room and gotten a lot stronger and we're going to be in better shape than we were last year. Our coaches took over our conditioning and weights, and we did more running and heavy lifting than we had before. We weren't as strong as we should have been last year, and that could have helped us in some of the games we lost to get over the hump. I feel like we're going to be more ready this year. We're not as experienced as we were last year, and I know I have to step up more and be a leader. Last year I stood back and just kind of let things happen, this year I'm trying to go make things happen and be more of a leader and bring everybody in and help them out – trying to teach them the system so we can get going."

"We're going to be the best conditioned team in the country," Sells said. "We worked hard in the offseason. I can say this team has, by far, worked harder than we did my freshman or sophomore years. This team wants to come in and get stuff done and work toward championships. Sometimes teams just go through the motions, but this team just wants to win and we're all trying to keep Coach Rushing happy. We saw what we did last year and know we can do better, and that just makes us all want to go harder."

In addition to the eight returning players from last season and Thomas, the Sugar Bears will rely on the freshman trio of 5-foot-5 guard Shay Johnson, 5-11 forward Alana Canady, and 5-11 guard/forward Carley Hudspeth along with 6-1 junior forward Keturah Bingham.

"They're all going to have a chance to step in and help us right away," Rushing said. "They're a talented group and they've worked hard – they just don't have it all figured out yet. But I like the makeup of this team and we're excited to get started and see what this team can accomplish."