CONWAY — Central Arkansas went toe-to-toe with one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in Southland Conference play on Wednesday night, but a late Stephen F. Austin run was enough to keep the upset-minded Sugar Bears just out of reach as SFA held on for a 59-53 victory in the Farris Center.
The Sugar Bears (7-12, 2-7 Southland) were down by just one in the fourth quarter when the Ladyjacks (16-3, 7-0) went on a 14-4 run over the next five minutes to take a double-digit lead with less than two minutes remaining. The Sugar Bears were able to cut it to as little as five in the last minute on three-pointers from Hannah Langhi and Carley Hudspeth, but ran out of time as the Jacks held on for their fourth straight victory in the series.
It was the lowest point total and closest margin of victory so far in league play for the 'Jacks, who remain a half game back of Lamar (8-0) atop the Southland standings.
"I'm proud of our effort, they just had too much manpower," Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing said. "Our record doesn't indicate that we're improving – but we are. SFA is a great team, well coached, and I have so much respect for them. They were just too much for us tonight. We got stagnant on offense, watching the ball. And we got outrebounded. We've got to have more productivity from our posts, got to move our feet. And the second quarter really hurt us. But I told the team at the half, we played a solid 15 minutes of basketball. We're developing toughness with our young players. But we're beat up – Maddie's wrist, Kam had cramps in her leg – so we've got to get healed up. We've got another tough opponent coming in on Saturday."
The Sugar Bears were tied with the 'Jacks midway through the second quarter, but SFA closed out the half on a 14-5 run to take a 29-20 lead at the half. The Sugar Bears would draw as close as two in the third quarter before SFA extended the lead back out to six headed to the fourth – but Central Arkansas would not go away easily, trimming the deficit to just one with seven minutes to go on a putback by junior center Alexyse Thomas to make it 44-43.
But from there, with a pair of starters in Orr and Goodner both sidelined with injury, the Sugar Bears saw the SFA lead swell back to 11 over the next several minutes, proving too much to overcome down the stretch.
Orr, who would eventually return to the game, finished with 15 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals in 31 minutes. Langhi added 15 points and 5 rebounds, while Alanie Fisher had 8 points and 4 rebounds, and Taylor Sells 6 points and 6 rebounds. Thomas led the Sugar Bears with 7 rebounds, also scoring 4 points in 12 minutes – her most productive outing since getting 6 points and 8 boards at Alcorn State on Nov. 28.
SFA was led by 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench from Aiyana Johnson, with Imani Johnson adding 11 points and a game-high 9 rebounds. Alyssa Mayfield had 10 and 8, and Chanell Hayes 10 and 6 for the 'Jacks.
Though SFA held a 41-38 rebounding advantage, the Sugar Bears had 16 offensive rebounds to SFA's 14 – getting 23 second-chance points to SFA's 16. The 'Jacks did the majority of their damage in the paint, outscoring the Sugar Bears 38-20. The Sugar Bears held SFA – which came in making 8.2 3-pointers per game – to just 1-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
The six-point defeat is the Sugar Bears' sixth loss by single digits in conference play, with an average margin of defeat of 6.3 points.
The Sugar Bears will look to bounce back on Saturday when they host Northwestern State in the Farris Center at 2:00pm in the first half of a doubleheader with the Bears and Demons to follow.
