CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Fresh off of the best ASUN game in program history, the Sugar Bears were unable to repeat that effort on the road, falling to Austin Peay Thursday night. After a solid first quarter, the offense ground to a halt, resulting in just the fourth conference loss this season.
 
The loss drops the Sugar Bears to 18-9 overall, with a 10-4 conference record. It keeps the team in the third spot in the ASUN standings, but lessens the chance at a two seed moving forward. Leah Mafua led the team with ten points, but turnovers from the entire squad made offense difficult to come by against the Governors. Mafua was also credited with seven steals, hustling all over the place on defense. It marked the first seven-steal game by a Sugar Bear since January of 2021.
 
Central Arkansas opened up the game battling, trading the lead through the opening minutes of the first quarter. Mafua, in particular, started the game with five quick points, helping answer bucket for bucket with the home team. Then, with under three minutes, the Sugar Bears went on a small run, with Cheyanne Kemp scored with a pair of free throws to build the lead to six, but Austin Peay answered with a late bucket to cut the lead to four at the end of the frame.
 
But then, something happened in the second quarter that really hasn't happened much this season: the offense went cold. The Sugar Bears turned it over five times and shot just 2-of-9 in the second, struggling to generate points. Luckily, the defense was solid, holding Austin Peay to just nine points. But the four-point advantage for the Governors allowed them to tie the game before the break, as neither team scored in the final three minutes of the half. Tied at 23-23 at the break, the shooting percentages were starting to look like an issue for the Sugar Bears.
 
Central Arkansas came out similarly cold in the third quarter, as the home team took the lead and started to stretch it. Try as they might, the Sugar Bears couldn't stop the bleeding, as the deficit grew to double-digits in the frame. But the Sugar Bears kept fighting, even into the fourth, trimming the lead to single-digits with 4:31 to go in the game on a layup from Randrea Wright. But every punch by Central Arkansas was answered by the Govs, and the Sugar Bears couldn't find enough late to get back into it.
 
The loss doesn't change things for the moment. Already in the third spot in the ASUN standings going into the game because of the tiebreaker with Stetson, the Sugar Bears still have time to right the ship with two games left. Luckily, Central Arkansas entered with a two-game cushion over EKU in the four-spot, so a top-three seed is still very much in play. The Sugar Bears will look to rebound on Saturday against Lipscomb in Nashville. Tip-off against the Bisons is set for 2 p.m.