JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Central Arkansas women's basketball team rebounded in a big way Saturday afternoon, getting back in the in column with a 79-72 road win at UNF. The Sugar Bears controlled the game from the middle of the second quarter onward, putting together timely runs to stretch the lead before holding on in the fourth.
The Sugar Bears improved to 10-8 on the year and 3-3 in ASUN games, thanks in large part to a dynamic day from the backcourt players.
Shae Littleford led the way with a season-best 25 points, hitting four three-pointers for the second time this season.
Cheyanne Kemp and
Jenna Cook each added 16 points, with both guards hitting multiple triples in the game. The Sugar Bears also converted at the free throw line when it mattered, shooting 17-for-19 in the win.
But it wasn't a wire-to-wire lead for Central Arkansas; UNF forward Dezuray McGill came out guns blazing, scoring the Osprey's first 13 points of the game to help build a five-point advantage. Central Arkansas stayed steady, with all five starters contributing points to close the gap by five-minute mark. Down two with about two minutes to go, Littleford buried a three in between
Bree Stephens scores to give the Sugar Bears a five-point lead after one.
Central Arkansas continued to add to the run, scoring the first six points of the second quarter to open the led to 11 with a pair of Cook triples. The threes capped a 13-0 run by Central Arkansas, and the lead remained at double-digits for much of the second quarter. Littleford inched the lead to 13 points with a pair at the line with 6:28 on the clock, and continued to hold the lead around the ten-point mark. Kemp dropped a trey with less than a minute to go to push the lead to its highest mark of 15 points, but UNF earned a trip to the line to cut it to 13 at the break.
The first half saw Central Arkansas with one of its best shooting halves of the season; the Sugar Bears had shooting splits of 58 percent from the field, 58 percent from three, and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line. Meanwhile, UNF shot just 27 percent from the field and from three, but ten offensive rebounds allowed the Ospreys to hang around.
The lead remained around double-figures for basically the entire third quarter, with the exception of a couple of baskets from UNF that cut the lead to nine. But every burst from the Ospreys was matched with a score from the Sugar Bears, and five players scored in the third frame. Central Arkansas got the lead up to 15 on a
Julianna Gibson layup, but a 7-0 run to close the third cut the lead in half, with a three-pointer at the end of the quarter narrowing the gap.
UNF continued to add to its run, getting the lead down to five to start the fourth quarter. Littleford answered with a big three-pointer to get the lead back to eight with eight minutes to go, and from there, the experienced Sugar Bears took the game over. Littleford and Stephens hit free throws to inch the lead back to 11, and a minute later, Kemp stuck a triple to keep the lead at double-figures. As the Ospreys continued to try to get back into it, Kemp and Littleford scored buckets to keep the lead at ten with three minutes to go.
Free throws carried the Sugar Bears to the finish line, as Central Arkansas went 10-for-12 in the fourth quarter to keep the Ospreys at bay. Littleford, in particular, was clutch, scoring 12 points in the final stanza, including five at the charity stripe.
Central Arkansas returns home for the next two weeks, playing four games in the Farris Center as the ASUN schedule moves along. The Sugar Bears will start next Wednesday against West Georgia at 6:30 p.m.
