ABILENE, Texas — Central Arkansas got out to a 9-point lead in the first half at Abilene Christian on Saturday, but the Wildcats rallied to take a six-point halftime lead and poured in 52 second-half points as the Sugar Bears fell 93-71 at Moody Coliseum.
The Sugar Bears (11-6, 7-11 Southland) committed a season-low nine turnovers, went 17-of-21 (81 percent) from the free throw line, and shot 52.5 percent on two-point field goals – but were unable to keep pace with a high-powered Wildcat offense that shot 60 percent (31 of 51) from the field and hit 50 percent of its 3-point attempts, going 11-for-22 from long range as ACU completed the season sweep and won for the fifth straight time in the series.
The Wildcats (22-5, 14-4) got 40 points in the paint and were 20-of-29 from the free throw line en route to their 12th game of 80 or more points this season, improving upon their scoring average of 79.3 – which ranked 12th nationally coming into Saturday's game.
The Sugar Bears shot just 15.4 percent from long range, going 4-for-26 – including 0-for-11 in the 2nd half as they were outscored 52-36 over the final 20 minutes.
ACU was led by 25 points from Breanna Wright, the Southland's leading scorer at 17.5 points per game coming in. Wright also had a game-high 8 assists as the Wildcats registered 20 assists on their 31 field goals.
The Sugar Bears got 21 points from
Briana Trigg, who was 7-of-14 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers and a 5-of-6 showing at the free throw line.
Taylor Sells added 18 points, 6 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists while playing all 40 minutes; and
Ayanna Trigg added 11 points and led the team with 9 rebounds and a season-high 4 steals.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Sugar Bears' hopes for a 10th consecutive Southland Conference Tournament berth are still alive as they currently sit 9th in the league standings, two wins behind 7th-place Southeastern Louisiana (9-9) and 8th-place Nicholls (9-10).
The Sugar Bears will have the chance to make up a game on Southeastern when the Lady Lions visit on Wednesday, with the regular season concluding next Saturday in the Farris Center against Northwestern State.
