CONWAY, Ark. – Saturday afternoon saw a physical, 40-minute battle between Little Rock and Central Arkansas women's basketball, and the Sugar Bears pulled away in the fourth quarter to defend home court 55-42. It marked the third-straight win over the Trojans, adding another win in the Governor's I-40 Showdown.
The win improved the Sugar Bears to 5-2 on the season and a perfect 4-0 at home.
Jade Upshaw and
Kinley Fisher scored 18 points each,
Leah Mafua added 11, and Central Arkansas used a fourth-quarter jolt to outscore the Trojans by 15 in the second half.
Fisher buoyed the offense early, scoring seven points in the opening frame to help the Sugar Bears open up a 10-6 lead midway through the first. But the defensive length of the Trojans helped the visitors get back into it, and a late pair of free throws put the Trojans up 12-10 at the first buzzer.
The teams continued to trade buckets in the second, with neither side able to build a five-point lead for most of the quarter. Central Arkansas struggled to actually take a lead, but defended well enough to keep the game close. Little Rock eventually took a six-point lead with just over a minute to go in the half, but a 4-0 run at the free throw line closed the gap to a 23-21 halftime score. Fisher had ten points before the end of the half, but nine Sugar Bear turnovers allowed Little Rock to hold a slight advantage.
Central Arkansas quickly set out to whittle the lead down to start the third quarter, taking a lead that would never be relinquished with 6:32 on the clock. But the Trojans didn't go quietly, keeping the game within two possessions the rest of the quarter. Upshaw led the team with seven points in the frame, a big part of the Sugar Bears' 60 percent shooting in the third to gain an advantage. Also in the quarter,
Randrea Wright hit a pair of free throws, helping to steady her team. In doing so, she moved into sole possession of ninth place on the Sugar Bears' Division I scoring chart, passing Kamry Orr's 893 points.
Little Rock fought back to start the fourth quarter, tying the game on a second-chance bucket midway through the fourth, leveling the score at 40-40. Upshaw and Fisher took over the middle of the quarter, though, scoring the next eight points for Central Arkansas to help the home team build a six-point lead. But just as Little Rock started battling to get back into it, Mafua put the final stamp on the game, blocking back-to-back shots on the defensive end, then scoring five points of her own, creating a seven-point swing for Central Arkansas that pushed the lead to double-figures for the first time all night.
The Sugar Bears are back on the road until the new year, playing down at Northwestern State for the next one. Tip-off in Natchitoches, Louisiana is set for 1 p.m. on December 14th.
