CONWAY, Ark. – Weathering an exhausting full-court press for 40 minutes, the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears captured an 81-58 win over Arkansas State Wednesday night.
Shae Littleford had herself a night, scoring a game-high 23 points, eclipsing 1,000 points in her collegiate career.
The win improved Central Arkansas to 2-2 on the year, and 2-0 at home. Littleford's night was efficient, scoring her 23 points on eight shots.
Jenna Cook scored 13 points off the bench,
Cheyanne Kemp added 11, and
Paris Santacaterina scored 10.
Central Arkansas opened the game with 19-3 run over the first five minutes, playing solid defense and preventing the Red Wolves from getting open looks. On the other side, the Sugar Bears shot 8-for-13 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers and seven free throws. Littleford had nine, hitting all three of her shots with a three-pointer and a pair at the line.
The full-court press started to affect the Sugar Bears in the second quarter, as turnovers allowed the Red Wolves to stay in the game. Central Arkansas did a good job defending after committing turnovers, allowing just three points on seven turnovers, but the miscues prevented the Central Arkansas offense from getting going again.
The third quarter continued to be a slugfest as possessions went back and forth, but still, the defense to hold down the fort. Arkansas State had seven offensive rebounds in the third, but a stingy defense allowed just 15 points on 20 shots, including 2-for-11 on three-pointers.
In the fourth quarter, the lead grew to 20 as the Sugar Bears opened with three-straight threes, one from Stephens, the next from Littleford, and the third from
Paris Santacaterina, boosting the lead from 10 to 19 in a heartbeat. The flurry of threes proved to be the dagger despite there being eight minutes left on the clock, and the visitors were never able to climb back into it. A Littleford layup with just over three minutes pushed the lead back over 20 for the final time, and the Sugar Bears coasted to the finish line from there.
Central Arkansas had shooting splits of 52/46/70 in the second half, which allowed the Sugar Bears to pull away, while holding Arkansas state to shooting splits of 30/18/86. Seven Sugar Bears scored in the second half, and Central Arkansas became the first team to hold the Red Wolves to less than 60 points this season.
The Sugar Bears hit the road for the first half of next week, playing in a Thanksgiving Tournament at Georgia State. Central Arkansas will play three opponents while in Atlanta, playing a game on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
