CONWAY, Ark. – Setting a season-best in points allowed and points scored, the Sugar Bears controlled both sides of the basketball against Queens, picking up a 73-43 win over the Royals on Saturday. Four Sugar Bears scored in double-figures, improving the team's record to 8-14, with a 3-8 record in ASUN play.
Despite being under the weather,
Randrea Wright matched her season-high with 20 points.
Kierra Prim logged her sixth double-double of the year, putting up 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Kinley Fisher added 12, and
Gloria Fornah set a career-high with 11 of her own.
Queens opened the game with a three-pointer, one of four that the Royals would hit in the quarter. Central Arkansas responded with aggressive drives into the paint, getting trips to the line and finishing easy looks at the basket.
Kyjai Miles was the primary beneficiary of the paint touches, scoring six points and pulling down seven boards in the opening frame. She also drew four fouls, putting the Royals post players in early foul trouble. Using eight points in the paint and a bevy of free throws, Central Arkansas held a 15-12 lead after ten minutes.
Continuing to battle back and forth, the score remained within two possessions for the first five minutes of the second quarter. Each time the Sugar Bears threatened to pull away, Queens would find a way to keep the score close. But finally, the guards of Central Arkansas, Wright, Fisher and Carter, combined for and 8-1 run to close the quarter, growing the lead to double-figures and putting the Sugar Bears in control of the game. Central Arkansas' scoring in the first half was extremely balanced, with five players scoring at least five points and none scoring more than six. Defensively, the Sugar Bears held the Royals scoreless for the last three minutes of the half.
The points piled up after halftime, as the Sugar Bears started the second half on an 11-0 run that spanned through the five-minute media timeout. The defense blanked Queens for seven minutes, stretching the scoreless streak to ten minutes of gametime, before finally earning a trip to the free throw line to end the drought. This allowed Central Arkansas to stretch the lead to 22 points at its peak, the largest of the third quarter. Fornah led all scorers with six in the third, and Queens was held to 12.5 percent shooting, making only two baskets and two free throws for a total of seven points. The lead was 19 at the end of the third, after Wright stopped and popped at the right elbow, connecting on a jumper as time expired.
Queens came out determined to make a push, scoring seven-straight to open the fourth, cutting the lead to 12 and prompting a timeout from the Sugar Bears to get their minds locked in to prevent any more damage. Reengaged, Central Arkansas rebuilt the lead back over 20, with Wright hitting a pair of free throws to push the lead out of reach. Putting together the best-scoring quarter of the season, the Sugar Bears poured in 26 points, led by Wright's ten, extending the lead to the biggest of the year. Staying engaged and drawing fouls, five Sugar Bears went to the line for 16 free throws, hitting 14 to keep the game under wraps.
Saturday's win combined the most points scored this season (73) with the fewest points allowed (43), giving Central Arkansas its biggest win of the year, a 30-point blowout of the Royals.
The Sugar Bears continue a heavy slate down the stretch, playing at North Alabama on Monday, tipping off at 3 p.m. in Florence, Ala.
