CONWAY, Ark. – Playing the number one team in the ASUN on Saturday, the Central Arkansas women's basketball team stunned Eastern Kentucky, taking a 71-57 win at the Farris Center. It marked the first win of the ASUN slate for the Sugar Bears, who improved to 6-8 on the year and 1-2 in conference.
 
The Sugar Bears were without head coach Sandra Rushing, who was tending to a family emergency, and were under the direction of Associate Head Coach Tiffany Phillips. Phillips, who is in her first season as associate head coach, is in her seventh season at Central Arkansas.
 
Parris Atkins continued to show up and show out, leading the team for a fifth-straight game with career-bests of 18 points and four steals. Randrea Wright added 17 points, and Kierra Prim notched her fourth double-double of the season, logging 13 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
 
The offenses traded buckets early, with the Colonels taking a 4-2 lead over the first few possessions, but the Sugar Bears answered with a Kinley Fisher three-pointer to take the lead. The 13 seconds that EKU led in the first quarter would be the entirety of the lead for the Colonels, as the Sugar Bears took it and never looked back. Both sides would again, battle to establish an edge, but the lead always remained in favor of Central Arkansas, albeit a small lead. Finally, over the last three minutes of the quarter, the Sugar Bears marched out to extend a three-point lead to nine points with an 8-2 run to close the first.
 
Central Arkansas shot an absolutely absurd 78.6 percent in the quarter, a season-high for a single quarter, hitting 11-for-14 from the field, with a pair of three-pointers and an and-one from Prim. Six Sugar Bears scored in the quarter, led by Prim's seven. Additionally, Central Arkansas dished assists on seven of the 11 field goals, moving the ball with the intention of putting teammates in a position to be successful.
 
The lead continued to grow in the second, as the baskets continued to come for the Sugar Bears. To start the quarter, Atkins took a steal the length of the court, making a layup to extend the lead to double-digits once again. Central Arkansas maintained the 10-plus point lead the entire quarter, stifling an EKU offense that had eclipsed 80 points in each of the last five games. The Colonels were held to just 20 percent shooting in the second, including a 1-for-9 effort inside the three-point line. Midway through the quarter, Prim took a great pass from Gloria Fornah to put the lead at 18. Though the Colonels chipped away before half, the Sugar Bears headed to the locker room up 39-25.
 
At halftime, Central Arkansas had bullied its way to a 24-6 advantage in the paint, using offensive rebounds and quick duck-ins to find easy looks. The Sugar Bears also forced nine turnovers from the Colonels, while only committing four of their own. Wright eclipsed double-figures in the first half, logging a team-high 11 points in the first 20 minutes.
 
Eastern Kentucky came out of halftime determined to get back into the game, suffering one of the biggest offensive letdowns of the year to that point. Aiming to get the lead down, the Colonels finally broke through at the 5:10 mark, scoring to bring the lead to single digits for the first time in more than 13 minutes. Instead of putting their tails between their legs and letting the lead slip further, the Sugar Bears kept fighting, holding the lead above seven through the end of the quarter, eventually starting the fourth up nine, 53-44.
 
The lead was again threatened in the first minute of the fourth, as the Colonels got it within five points, but a quick 8-0 run from the Sugar Bears, capped by a Kyjai Miles layup, essentially put the game out of reach, extending the lead back to 13 with just under five minutes remaining. From there, Central Arkansas had an answer for every punch, a push for every shove, until the buzzer ran out for the first conference win of the year.
 
Eastern Kentucky was held to just 15 percent from beyond the arc in the second half, while the Sugar Bears pounced inside, earning free throws to add to the lead and put themselves in the bonus early. Atkins had 12 points in the latter half, using her speed off in transition and off the dribble to knife her way to the cup time and time again.
 
"I'm so proud of the way we fought today, and so appreciative of my coaching staff," Head coach Sandra Rushing said in a phone call after the game. "They played like we know they're capable of tonight, and I want them to know how proud I am of them. Tiffany and the staff did a wonderful job, and our players executed the game plan extremely well."
 
Preparing for another road trip, the Sugar Bears head to Florida for the next two games, playing at Stetson on Thursday before wrapping up in the Sunshine State on Saturday against FGCU.