NEW ORLEANS, La. – A white-knuckle, to-the-end battle against Alabama A&M did not go the Sugar Bears' way on Saturday, as the Central Arkansas women's basketball team fell 55-53 to the Bulldogs.
 
The Sugar Bears slide to 6-4 on the year, with one more game before ASUN play begins. Leah Mafua and Elizabeth Abiara each had 12 points in a game that saw both sides shoot under 35 percent.
 
Central Arkansas opened the game slowly, starting behind 6-2 over the first couple of minutes. Abiara and Mafua each put in buckets, including a three from Mafua, to give Central Arkansas the lead. The teams traded buckets back-and-forth before a 6-0 run gave the Sugar Bears a 13-8 lead after the quarter. Abiara and Mafua combined for 11 of the team's 13 points. Turnovers got the better of Central Arkansas in the second, as the Sugar Bears had nearly as many turnovers (7) as points (8). Meanwhile, Alabama A&M were able to take advantage of the extra possessions, and outscored Central Arkansas by seven in the frame to take a three-point edge to the locker room.
 
Alabama A&M came out of halftime and extended its lead to six, putting the Sugar Bears down multiple possessions to start the third quarter. After making some adjustments in reaction to a zone defense, the Sugar Bears found three-straight three-pointers, including two from Kinley Fisher, to flip the script with the 9-0 run to take a three-point lead. The Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 run of their own, reclaiming the lead. From there, the sides battled back and forth until the end of the third, and the Sugar Bears went into the fourth down one.
 
The first several minutes of the fourth continued the trend of back-and-forth scoring, as the lead flipped time and time again. Mafua gave the Sugar Bears a small advantage with a personal 4-0 run, but the Bulldogs responded in kind. Cheyanne Kemp gave Central Arkansas a four-point lead with a corner three, but the Bulldogs continued to fight, keeping the game within a score down the stretch. Central Arkansas had two chances with the shot clock off, down two, to get a score, but came up empty, including a turnover with four seconds left.
 
Central Arkansas will regroup with a few days off, then hit the road one more time in non-conference play to take on SEC foe Arkansas on December 29^th. Tip-off against the Razorbacks is set for 2 p.m. in Fayetteville.