Natchitoches, La. – The Central Arkansas women's basketball team returned to the court for the regular-season finale at Northwestern State on Saturday. The Sugar Bears were playing for the chance at a potential No. 2 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament. A bad fourth quarter led to a 50-45 defeat and the Lady Demons' first win of the season.
 
The game started slow as neither team scored in the first 1:20 of the first quarter. Briana Trigg scored the game's first points on a layup. The Sugar Bears went on a 10-5 run that ended with 1:33 left in the quarter. The Lady Demons managed to cut the lead to four, 12-8, with just over a minute in the stanza. Neither team scored the remainder of the period and UCA took a 12-8 lead into the second.
 
Northwestern State opened the second on a 4-0 run and tied the game with 8:45 until the half. The Sugar Bears stretched the lead back out to seven, 19-12, with just over five minutes left in the quarter. The Lady Demons went on a 6-0 run and pulled within one, 19-18. Carley Hudspeth and Lucy Ibeh combined for six points in the final two minutes and put UCA up 25-18 with 35 seconds left in the half. Claudia Vidal knocked down a 3-pointer before time expired and closed the UCA lead to 25-21 at the half.
 
Neither team scored in the first 2:02 in the second half until Erin Harris made two free throws and pulled the Lady Demons within two. Anessa Dussette made the third quarter's first field goal on a jumper in the paint, which tied the game at 25-25. Ibeh put the Sugar Bears back on top by two with two made free throws. After a made free throw by Northwestern State, Savanna Walker knocked down UCA's first field goal of the second half with 6:17 left in the quarter. The Lady Demons managed to tie the game at 34-34 with 2:33 left in the period. The Sugar Bears went on a 5-1 run and extended their lead to 39-35 as the game went to the fourth.
 
UCA held a slim 43-42 lead with 4:47 left in regulation. The Sugar Bears made just one field goal and only scored two points for the remainder of the game. The Lady Demons closed the game out on an 8-2 run and claimed a 50-45 victory over the Sugar Bears.
 
As a team, Central Arkansas was extremely dominant on the glass as it outrebounded Northwestern State, 56-26. The Sugar Bears shot slightly higher than the Lady Demons from the field, but were 0-6 from behind the arc and just 9-20 from the free-throw line. Both of those played factors in the UCA loss.
 
Ibeh posted a game-high 15 rebounds and a game-high 13 points. She recorded her sixth double-double on the season and fifth in SLC play. Ibeh also had a game-high three steals. Briana Trigg produced a career-high 14 rebounds and tied a season-high 12 points on her way to her second double-double of the season. Briana Trigg added a game-high three assists.
 
Kalen Green led the Lady Demons with 12 points, while JaMiya Braxton added nine points. Dussette collected a team-high seven rebounds.
 
With the loss, the Sugar Bears fall to the No. 5 seed in the tournament. UCA will receive a first-round bye and will play at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 11. The Sugar Bears will face the winner of the Houston Baptist and McNeese game.
 
From the Coach – Head Coach Sandra Rushing
"It was an unacceptable performance from a team playing for a No. 2 seed!"
 
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