CONWAY, Ark. – The Sugar Bear basketball team emphatically ended a three-game losing streak on Thursday with a 70-32 win over in-town opponent Central Baptist. Highlighted by scoring from every Central Arkansas player, it was a good way for the team to emotionally reset and get back on the winning side of a final score.
Lucy Ibeh posted her fourth double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 16 and pulling down 12 rebounds to lead the way for the Sugar Bears.
Lashiyah Fowler hit double-digits for the first time in her young career, scoring 11 points with three shots from beyond the arc.
Ruth Balogun had a season-best six points, all in the first half, while the defensive intensity of the Sugar Bears led to 20 steals, with five players snaring three or more takeaways.
It wasn't a clean break out of the tip for the Sugar Bears; despite scoring on its first two possessions, the Lady Mustangs responded in kind, keeping it close for a while in the first quarter. After the first couple of three-pointers, the defense locked in, holding the visitors to just one more basket in the stanza, leading by nine after the first.
The scoring was terrifically balanced for the Sugar Bears through the first two quarters, with eight players scoring in the first half. Central Arkansas had nine assists on 13 first half baskets, including four from
Hannah Langhi. Defensively, Central Baptist was held to just 23 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, training 33-18 at the midway point.
Central Arkansas continued to roll in the second half, as CBC, who entered the game with six available players, started to wear down. The swarming defense of the Sugar Bears forced nine turnovers from the Lady Mustangs while holding them to 25 percent shooting in the third, a quarter that say UCA stretch the lead by seven.
In the fourth quarter,
Tajanna White pulled in an offensive rebound and laid it back in, completing the full house as the last Sugar Bear to find points in the game. In the end, a balanced effort across the board carried the day, with every Sugar Bear scoring, and all but one pulling down a rebound. Central Arkansas shot 45.6 percent from the field while allowing CBC to just 22 percent on the day, including 18 percent from three.
Next up for the Sugar Bears is a short road trip to Simmons Bank Arena in Little Rock, Ark., for a battle with the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday. The quick turnaround for Central Arkansas marks the second of three games in a six-day span.
