LYNCHBURG, Va. – Despite fighting until the very end and coming close to upsetting last season's No. 2 seed from the ASUN East, the Sugar Bear basketball team couldn't quite get over the hurdle at Liberty, falling 64-53 Thursday afternoon. Central Arkansas came close to getting over the hump multiple times in the second half, but the Lady Flames were able to hang on late in the game.
Central Arkansas falls to 5-8 on the year and 0-2 to start ASUN play, but there were plenty of promising moments against the Lady Flames. Three Sugar Bears scored in double-figures, led by freshman
Parris Atkins' 16 points.
Kinley Fisher and
Randrea Wright each added 14, a season-best for Fisher.
It took the offense some time to get going in the first quarter, but the defense was able to keep the Sugar Bears within striking distance for the bulk of the first quarter. The Lady Flames came out with a strong inside out game, seeking to pound the ball inside to all-conference forward Mya Berkman, but double-teams in the post forced either tough shots or sending the ball back out. Taking the Lady Flames out of their comfort zone, Central Arkansas hung around, trailing just eight after ten minutes of action.
Shifting momentum, continued stops by the Sugar Bears clearly shook the Lady Flames. Trying to get inside to use its height, Liberty was baited into turnovers, racking up eight miscues in the quarter. For the Sugar Bears, this allowed the road team to cut into the lead, dashing inside and beating Flames off the dribble and earning trips to the free throw line. Using the freebies and layups, the Sugar Bears outscored Liberty in the quarter, 15-12, which cut the lead to just five at the midway point, 28-23.
Kinley Fisher added seven points in the quarter, connecting on all four of her free throws and knocking down a three-pointer.
The Sugar Bears, for their part, took care of the basketball, committing just four turnovers in the half. Central Arkansas parlayed that into a 7-0 advantage in points off turnovers, helping the Sugar Bears stay within a couple of possessions against the No. 2 seed from the ASUN East last year.
Central Arkansas continued to befuddle the Lady Flames in the third, matching them basket for basket. Looking for a way to pull ahead, Wright cut the lead to two with an and-one just 90 seconds into the quarter. Fisher again cut it to two with a pair of free throws on the next possession. A couple minutes later, Wright bombed a three to make it a one-point game, and the Sugar Bears seemed to be on the precipice of pulling ahead. But every time Central Arkansas got close, Liberty found a way to avoid catastrophe. As quickly as the score could have been in the Sugar Bears' favor, it was a 10-point lead again for Liberty. Wright capped a quick 5-0 run to end the quarter, and sent the teams to the fourth with a 47-42 score. Wright scored 12 points in the quarter, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from beyond the arc and 3-for-3 from the line.
With just 10 minutes left to play, the Sugar Bears blitzed the start of the fourth, jumping out on a 6-2 run to cut the lead again to one point. But again, as close as Central Arkansas was to getting over the hump, the team just couldn't quite get enough. On top of that, it was perhaps the most inopportune time for shots to stop falling, as the Sugar Bears went cold, going on an extended drought that allowed Liberty to pull away one more time.
Taking out the cold spell at the end, Thursday's game was one of the most complete efforts by the Sugar Bears, who were at times a single shot away from getting ahead and competing with a much larger team. In the first half,
Kyjai Miles held Liberty's Berkman to just four points, effectively locking down the paint to one of the country's most efficient scorers. Fisher showed flashes off the dribble, drawing three fouls on drives and putting home all six free throws. It also marked the ninth game of the season in which the Sugar Bears had more steals than their opponents, outswiping the Lady Flames 7-6.
The Sugar Bears will return home for the next game, a quick turnaround to face Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at 1 p.m.
