NATCHITOCHES, La. – Close throughout, the Central Arkansas women's basketball team pulled away just enough to take a win over Northwestern State on Saturday. A strong second half and tough defense powered the way for a Sugar Bear team that has six wins in its first eight games.
 
The Sugar Bears improve to 6-2, in large part to the scoring of Jade Upshaw, who had 18 for the second-straight game. Randrea Wright scored her 900^th career point and tied a career-high with five steals in the game.
 
Offense came at a premium in the first quarter, as both sides scored just once in the first four minutes of the game. Bree Stephens connected on a three-pointer, but otherwise, shots just weren't falling. The Demons put a 5-0 run together to take a two-possession lead midway through the frame, and the Sugar Bears looked flat. After the media timeout, however, the Sugar Bears put a full-court press on, resulting in back-to-back steals and scores, leveling the game and injecting Central Arkansas with some life. The visiting Sugar bears put a 7-0 run together using the momentum, taking the lead that would hold through the first, a 14-10 score after the buzzer.
 
Central Arkansas continued to move the lead up, stretching it to nine points by the four-minute mark. But the Northwestern State defense locked up, holding Central Arkansas scoreless over the last few minutes. The Sugar Bears responded by only allowing five points over that stretch, taking a four-point lead into halftime. Stephens led all scorers at the midway point with seven.
 
Both offenses took the lid off of their respective basket in the third quarter, as the points started flowing freely, compared to the first half, at least. Each side scored 19 points in the quarter, and Central Arkansas leaned heavily on the efforts of Upshaw, who found her touch and used it to torch the Demons to the tune of 12 points. And she did it every way possible, scoring at the rim, at the free throw line, and from distance. She scored her first basket of the third with 5:09 on the clock, and her final one with 55 seconds left, meaning the senior guard scored 12 points in 4:14. Central Arkansas needed every one of her points too, and led by just four at the end of the quarter.
 
The Sugar Bears were efficient as they closed out the fourth quarter, rotating all kinds of ball-handlers to burn clock and keep possession. Taking only nine field goals in the fourth, Central Arkansas forced Northwestern State to foul over the last two minutes, sending the Sugar Bears to the line to ice the game. And when the time came to hit them, the Sugar Bears came through, especially Kinley Fisher, who hit the final four of the game to keep the lead at ten through the buzzer.
 
Central Arkansas will be back in the state of Louisiana next week, as the Sugar Bears play in a holiday tournament at Tulane. The Sugar Bears will play two games in New Orleans, the first of which will be on Friday.