CONWAY, Ark. – Returning home after a competitive game at Liberty, the Central Arkansas women's basketball team has a quick turnaround before facing Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. Facing a Colonels team that has started the ASUN schedule with a pair of wins, Saturday's game will tip off at 1 p.m. at the Farris Center.
 
Central Arkansas (5-8, 0-2 ASUN) held neck-and-neck with last season's No. 2 Seed from the ASUN East for 32 minutes, before a run by the Lady Flames allowed them to pull away late. Parris Atkins continued to impress, matching a career-high with 16 points. Kinley Fisher and Randrea Wright each poured in 14, with Fisher setting a new career-best. And though the final score didn't go the Sugar Bears' way, the fight and effort was certainly there all night, battling through a slow start against a much bigger team.
 
The Sugar Bears were the more aggressive team throughout the night, shooting more free throws, forcing more turnovers, and attacking harder off the dribble than the Lady Flames, but suffered an ill-timed drought in the fourth quarter.
 
Atkins recorded her sixth game of double-digit scoring in a row on Thursday, and her ninth in the last 10 games, bumping her team-leading scoring average to 11.2 points per game. Wright eclipsed the 40 free throw mark against the Lady Flames, moving up to sixth in the ASUN in free throws made, and is hitting her foul shots at a 78.8 percent clip. Fisher, knocking down a pair of threes in the last one, connected from distance for the seventh time in her last nine games, and showed flashes off the dribble that made her Greenwood HS's all-time leading scorer.
 
Eastern Kentucky (9-6, 2-0 ASUN) enters the weekend on a five game winning streak, having defeated Stetson in its last game. An 11 point win, the Colonels did their damage in the first half, leading by 14 at the break, led by 21 points from Antwainette Walker's 21 points on the night. Four Colonels scored in double-figures against the Hatters.
 
The five-game winning streak comes mostly at home, with the last four outings coming in Richmond, Ky., whereas the lone road victory of the streak, at Army, is EKU's only road win of the season. The Colonels are 1-4 on the road, having suffered defeats to Tennessee, Miami Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Boston College in four consecutive outings.
 
EKU is led by Walker, who averages an ASUN-leading 21.9 points per game on 52.7 percent shooting from the floor. She also leads the conference in free throws, having canned 49 of 67 this season. The Colonels also get solid scoring contributions from Marissa Mackins at 16.4 points per game and Danielle Rainey, who adds 12.8 points to the Colonel offense.
 
Tip-off against the Colonels is set for 1 p.m. CT at the Farris Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, with live stats available here. Fans can also keep up with the game on 91.3 The Bear, with Steve Owens on the call for all the Sugar Bear action.