GAME INFORMATION
CENTRAL ARKANSAS (11-12, 7-7 Southland) at Sam Houston State (16-7, 11-3)
Feb 15, 2020 • 1:00pm • Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum • Huntsville, Texas

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SERIES HISTORY
Central Arkansas leads 15-7
SHSU won last 1; 3 of last 4
Series tied 4-4 in Huntsville

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Central Arkansas
Points Per Game: Taylor Sells (9.3)
Rebounds Per Game: Hannah Langhi (6.1)
Assists Per Game: Taylor Sells (2.8)
Blocks: Hannah Langhi (23)
Steals: Hannah Langhi (23)

Sam Houston State
Points Per Game: Amber Leggett (15.5)
Rebounds Per Game: La'Sha Haynes (7.2)
Assists Per Game: Jenniffer Oramas (3.6)
Blocks: Kierra McKinney (40)
Steals: Amber Leggett (66)


HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS — After coming up short in an uncharacteristic shootout at New Orleans on Wednesday in one of their strongest offensive outings of the season, the Sugar Bears will look to bounce back on Saturday at Sam Houston State, looking to avoid being swept by the Bearkats in this season's meetings.

The Bearkats, who sit 2nd in the league standings at 11-3 behind Stephen F. Austin at 12-2, defeated the Sugar Bears 72-54 in the Farris Center last month, hitting 10 3-pointers while holding the Sugar Bears to just 1 en route to their third victory in the last four matchups between the teams.

The Sugar Bears will be looking for their first win in Huntsville since a 73-53 victory in 2018, having lost last season's meeting in Johnson Coliseum 66-62. To do so, they'll have to knock off a Bearkat squad that is 9-2 on its home floor this season, with only an 81-73 loss to Abilene Christian and a 77-74 setback to UIW. The Bearkats have had a string of tightly-contested games of late, with six straight games being decided by single digits with an average margin of just 5.2 points per game – including just 4 points per game over the last three. By contrast, the Sugar Bears have had just three games all season decided by single digits – a three-point win over Jackson State and seven-point wins over Northwestern State and Nicholls.

The matchups pits the Southland's second-leading offense in SHSU (77.6 points per game) against the league's second-leading defense in the Sugar Bears (56.7 per game allowed), and features the league leader in turnover margin as the Bearkats lead the Southland with +4.29 per game in conference play; while the Sugar Bears top the conference in rebound margin at +8.1 per game.

SHSU has two of the league's top seven scorers in conference play in Amber Leggett (15.9 per game, 3rd) and Jaylonn Walker (14.4 per game, 7th) and the league leader in blocked shots in Kierra McKinney at 2.1 per game.

For the Sugar Bears, Briana Trigg has averaged 21.5 points per game over the last two games on 18-for-28 shooting (64.3 percent); while twin sister Ayanna Trigg is coming off a season-high 14 points at New Orleans on Wednesday and has averaged 10 points and 8.3 rebounds over the last three games. Both Ayanna Trigg and Hannah Langhi rank in the Top 10 in the conference play, averaging 6.6 rebounds each. 

After Saturday's game, the Sugar Bears will wrap up the regular season with four of their last five games at home, with Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls visiting the Farris Center next week. The Sugar Bears currently sit 8th in the Southland standings with a two-game lead over Lamar for the final spot in the league tournament as the Sugar Bears look to make their 10th consecutive trip to Katy, Texas for the championship event.