ABILENE, Texas — Central Arkansas rallied from 14 down at the half to take the lead in the 4th quarter at Abilene Christian on Saturday, but the Wildcats made enough shots from the field and the free throw line down the stretch to sneak past the Sugar Bears 77-70 at Moody Coliseum.

"I think we shot ourselves in the foot in the first half," said Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing. "We were not meeting their intensity – they were very aggressive and I felt like we backed down. In the second half, I thought we had more energy and did a better job of executing. To beat a team like ACU – they're a very good team – we've got to be more consistent and more aggressive and study the game a little more. We have to get consistency."

ACU (13-6, 6-2 Southland) built a 37-23 halftime lead after shooting 53.1 percent (17 of 32) in the first half and outrebounding the Sugar Bears (7-11, 2-6) 19-9.

The Sugar Bears erased nearly all of it in the third quarter as they outscored the Wildcats 24-10, shooting 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the field and scoring 11 points off six ACU turnovers in the quarter. Kamry Orr, who had been held scoreless in the first half, was 5-for-8 for 10 points in the quarter; while Taylor Sells had 7 on 3-for-3 shooting.

Trailing 48-47 after three quarters, the Sugar Bears wasted little time in taking the lead in the 4th – going up 49-48 on a pair of free throws from Kamry Orr just 13 seconds in. The teams were still separated by just one point – with ACU ahead 57-56 – with 5:35 to play when the Wildcats got four points on one trip down the floor.

ACU's Sara Williamson drove to the basket for a layup, and Sells was whistled for a foul away from the shot. The shot was good, and the Wildcats retained possession on the foul, turning it into a score from Makayla Mabry a second later to go ahead 61-56.

The Wildcat lead would grow to as large as seven in the following minutes, but the Sugar Bears were able to whittle their deficit to three in the final minute as Orr hit four consecutive free throws then got a  three-point play on a layup and foul to make it 71-68 with 28 seconds left.

The Sugar Bears sent ACU's Madi Miller to the line where she made both to put the lead back at five, but Sells answered with a layup to make it 73-70 with 14 seconds to go. Breanna Wright then made a pair of free throws for ACU with 11 seconds to play, and the Sugar Bears came up empty on their next possession and were forced to send ACU to the line one final time for the game's final points.

Orr finished with a game-high 24 points – all in the second half – while going 10-for-10 from the free throw line with a team-high 5 assists and 2 steals. Sells tied her season high with 15 points and added 2 steals in 37 minutes; Mekaylan Hicks had 10 points and 4 rebounds in 34 minutes; and Hannah Langhi had 8 points and 9 rebounds in 33 minutes.

ACU got 22 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists from Sara Williamson, leading four players in double figures scoring. Mabry and Lexie Ducat each had 14 and Dominique Golightly added 12.

The Wildcats, the Southland leader and 20th-ranked team in the nation in rebounding margin at 8.3, outrebounded the Sugar Bears 34-23 for the game – including 11-5 in offensive rebounds, leading to a 16-2 advantage in second-chance points. In the loss, the Sugar Bears had their best shooting day of the season, making 49.1 percent (26 of 53) from the field and 93.3 percent (14 of 15) from the free throw line.

After going 1-1 on the road this week, the Sugar Bears return to the Farris Center for their next three and four of their next five – starting with Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday at 7:00pm.