CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas women's basketball team heads off to Atlanta to take part in a Thanksgiving tournament hosted by Georgia State. The Sugar Bears will play three games in three days, facing Samford on Monday (1:30 p.m.), Stony Brook on Tuesday (1:30 p.m.) and Georgia State on Wednesday (11 a.m.).
The Sugar Bears (2-2) earned a great home win over Arkansas State on Wednesday, taking it to a Red Wolves team that full-court pressured the entire game. Central Arkansas used terrific first and fourth quarters to get out early and pull away late.
Shae Littleford led all scorers with 23 points, and eclipsed 1,000 career points against the Red Wolves.
Littleford now leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game, a number that ranks first in the ASUN.
Cheyanne Kemp is sixth in the ASUN averaging 16.0 points per game.
Bree Stephens and
Jenna Cook are also averaging double-digit points this season, logging 12.0 points and 10.0 points per game, respectively. Stephens also leads the team in rebounding (8.0 rpg), assists (11), blocks (7) and steals (8).
Samford (3-3) has played three Power 4 teams this season, and have only played twice at home. The Bulldogs have been a high-volume three-point shooting team, averaging more than 30 attempts per game and at least 27 in all six games. Briana Rivera is the only player averaging double-digit scoring at 14.5 points per game, and she does basically all of her damage from three. The sophomore guard has 28 field goals this season, 27 of them are from three. She is shooting 43.5 percent from distance on 10 attempts per game from deep.
Stony Brook (2-3) has two wins on the season, one over DII Malloy and a road game at Rutgers. The Seawolves are only allowing 60 points per game, with three-straight games under that average. Stony Brook has three players averaging double-digits, with three players right around 12 points per game. Diaka Berete leads the team with 12.0 points per game, followed by Janay Brantley and Caitlin Frost at 11.6.
Georgia State (2-3) plays at home for the second time this season, with just its season opener against Oglethorpe being played in Atlanta to this point. The Panthers have since lost three of four on the road, including a four-point loss at Auburn last time out. Georgia State has the highest individual scorer among the four teams playing this week, with Crystal Henderson averaging 18.6 points per game. The 5-4 junior has been terrific on both ends, shooting nearly 45 percent from the field while adding team-best 24 assists and 15 steals, nearly five dimes and three steals per game. Kaleigh Addie also averages 15.2 points per game, and Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu adds 13.8 points per game.
The Sugar Bears open their week on Monday at 1:30 against Samford, then play Stony Brook at 1:30 on Tuesday, and wrap up the week against Georgia State on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Live stats will be available for all games, and only the Georgia State game will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to all three games at 91.3 The Bear, with Steve Owens on the call.
