CONWAY, Ark. – Central Arkansas women's basketball started its four-game homestand with a quality win on both sides of the ball, taking down the West Georgia Wolves 87-66 Wednesday night in the Farris Center.
The win improves Central Arkansas to 11-8 overall, 4-3 in ASUN games and 5-1 at home. The Sugar Bears had four in double-figures, led by
Shae Littleford's 17 points.
Bree Stephens added 16, while
Cheyanne Kemp and
Laylah Reese each had 15. Central Arkansas dominated inside, with 46 points in the paint, along with 19 assists on 35 baskets.
Both sides came out hitting shots, with the Sugar Bears and Wolves going score for score early in the first. The lead changed twice over the first five minutes, but Central Arkansas maintained a small lead thanks to early paint touches by Kemp and a three-ball by
Jenna Cook. Then, after the media timeout, the defense settled in, allowing the Sugar Bears to close the final four minutes of the first quarter on a 9-1 run, pushing the first quarter lead to nine. Cook and Reese both scored six off the bench in the opening frame, allowing the Sugar Bears to continue to press the issue when both teams went to the bench.
The 9-1 run continued for the first 90 seconds of the second, as the Sugar Bears notched the first two scores of the next period, making it a 13-1 run to go up by 13. West Georgia stopped the run with a triple, but Central Arkansas pressed on, building the lead to 17 with another 7-0 push. The Wolves were able to shrink the lead back to 13 with a pair of paint scores and a trip to the line, and toward the end of the first half, back-to-back scores narrowed it to ten, but a Reese three-pointer with under a minute to go bumped it back to 13. Reese led all scorers at the break with nine points, and five Sugar Bears had five or more points at halftime. On the other side, West Georgia only shot 33 percent from the floor and 23 percent from three, and Central Arkansas held one of the ASUN's best offenses to just 24 points in the first half.
Buckets flowed freely in the third quarter for both teams, and the 24-23 stanza marked the highest-scoring out of the four quarters. The Sugar Bears dominated in the paint, scoring 18 of their 24 near the rim. West Georgia finally saw some threes fall, hitting 4-for-6 from distance in the frame, and the Wolves shot 54 percent overall in the third period. And with Central Arkansas matching every score from the visitors, it made it impossible for the Wolves to close the gap, narrowing it to ten early in the quarter, but no closer than 12 at any other point. Central Arkansas pushed the lead to as high as 18 with just under two minutes on the clock, but West Georgia got it back down to 14 headed to the fourth. Kemp scored seven,
Julianna Gibson had six in the third, and Central Arkansas weathered the offensive push from the Wolves.
A West Georgia three-pointer to start the fourth narrowed the lead to 11. Central Arkansas answered that shot with an 11-0 run over the next two minutes and change, catapulting the lead to 22 and essentially putting the game out of reach.
Kamryn Griffin contributed four points during the run, scoring on an offensive rebound and scoring after a WGU turnover. Littleford put the cherry on top of the run, scoring the final five points with a pair at the line and a three-pointer, sending the Central Arkansas bench into a frenzy. The run extended to 17-1 with back-to-back three-pointers, and the 27-point lead marked the largest of the game with 5:56 left to play. West Georgia trimmed the lead to 21 points, but never got it within 20 again.
Stephens and Littleford both scored seven in the final quarter, and the Sugar Bears had seven assists on nine fourth quarter scores, with zero turnovers, allowing no room for error from the Wolves. The victory snapped a five-game winning streak for West Georgia.
Central Arkansas is scheduled to play North Alabama on Saturday, but with impending inclement weather, the Sugar Bears and Lions are potentially rescheduling that game. More information will be announced as it becomes available, both at UCASports.com and Sugar Bear social media pages.
