FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Another SEC game for the Sugar Bears, another loss by the thinnest of margins. After leading the Arkansas Razorbacks with 81 seconds left, the Central Arkansas women's basketball team ultimately fell 89-77 in overtime.
Central Arkansas (1-2) led the Razorbacks for over 30 minutes, and had some heroic performances despite the loss.
Cheyanne Kemp carried the offense for major stretches, scoring a game-high 19 points, the most the junior has scored against a Division I team in her collegiate career.
Bree Stephens posted her first double-double in Purple and Gray, logging 16 points and 16 rebounds while providing a calm leadership out on the floor.
The Sugar Bear started up 5-0 before the Hogs got on the board, and after a brief possession where the home team was ahead, Central Arkansas stayed in front for the bulk of the first quarter, finding paint touches to produce high-quality baskets inside. The Razorbacks flipped the lead down the stretch of the first, building a six-point lead as the clock neared zeros. But a last-second possession that ended in a
Shae Littleford desperation shot on an offensive rebound trimmed the lead back to four, keeping the Sugar Bears within four.
Making few adjustments, the Sugar Bears came out in the second and put together a 14-0 run to turn a four-point deficit into a ten-point lead. Central Arkansas opened the frame with four three-pointers and a layup after a turnover to jump out over the Razorbacks. Arkansas answered with a 10-0 run of its own, knotting the game at 32-32 with just over three minutes in the half. The Hogs then reclaimed the lead and got it up to three with 2:29 remaining in the half, but a 7-0 run by Stephens and
Shae Littleford gave Central Arkansas a four-point lead at the end of the first half.
Coming out of halftime, the lead flip-flopped several times in the opening minutes, with both sides getting paint touches and baskets at the rim. Kemp put together a quality third quarter, scoring nine of the Sugar Bears' 20 points on 4-for-4 shooting inside the three-point line. Central Arkansas got the lead back up to eight late in the period, but the home team trimmed it to four as the game went to the fourth quarter.
The fourth continued to be the high-intensity, back-and-forth affair that the other three quarters had been, but little by little, Arkansas started to whittle the lead down. Scores were hard to get, and a
Jenna Cook three-ball with 2:37 left felt like a massive dagger to the home team. But a free throw and two three-pointers, including one with 12 seconds left, tied the game, and a missed jumper at the end by Central Arkansas sent the sides to overtime. In the extra period, the Razorbacks were able to take control, scoring 15 of the 18 points to escape a Sugar Bear team that had the Hogs on the ropes for 40 minutes.
Cook finished the game with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including three shots from distance.
Julianna Gibson had five massive offensive rebounds, helping the Sugar Bears score 14 second chance points.
The Sugar Bears get a week off to get ready for the next one, hosting Arkansas State next Wednesday in the Farris Center.
