SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Central Arkansas STUNT team capped its first regular season on Sunday, falling to Texas Woman's University and Trevecca Nazarene. The Bears tallied five points in a 13-5 loss to the Pioneers and followed it up with a 17-3 outing against the Trojans.
"Our first day was a little rough, but we really turned it around and played better in day two," Head coach Alyssa Morrow said. "We realized that we could play better than we did that first day, and credit to our players, they put together some really good routines."
Game one against Texas Woman's was extremely competitive in the first half. The Bears tallied points in each of the first two quarters, nailing routines in the partner stunts and pyramid and tosses. Trailing just 4-3 at the break, Central Arkansas seemed poised for a big second half. But after surrendering two points in the third, tough breaks in the fourth awarded the Bears only two of a possible 12 points.
With just a single game's break in between competing, the Bears took the floor again against Trevecca Nazarene for the second game. Central Arkansas captured a point in the first quarter. But despite solid execution on many of the routines across the final three quarters, the Bears were unable to add to their score.
"I was really proud of
Bailey Dougherty and
Sajala Bell this weekend. Bailey hurt her hand day one, but she continued to push and do pyramids all weekend long, and that's not something a lot of people would push through," Morrow added. "Sajala stepped up in some of Bailey's spots and earned us some points in those partner stunts. She didn't have a lot of experience when she joined the team, so for her to just hop in and get placed in a new group and earn us a point, that was a huge deal."
Central Arkansas will compete for a national championship next weekend, participating in the NCAA's Division I National Championship. Taking place in Lexington, the Bears will be one of four teams competing for a title, along with California Baptist, Kentucky and UT Martin.
