CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas women's basketball team plays its regular season finale on Friday, hosting Queens in the Farris Center at 6:30 p.m. The Sugar Bears will take time beforehand to honor its senior class, showing appreciation and love for those that have given their time, efforts and talents to our program.
 
The Sugar Bears added win number eight in a row last night, defeating North Alabama to improve to 19-10 overall and 12-5 in ASUN games. The win over the Lions saw Central Arkansas start with two great quarters, then hold on late in the fourth. Jenna Cook had a career night, hitting a personal-best seven field goals en route to a 17-point night for the Cabot native. Cheyanne Kemp added 13 points, and Shae Littleford chipped in 12, and Central Arkansas punched its ticket to a top-four seed in the ASUN Championship next week, earning a first round bye.
 
Central Arkansas is primed to win 20 games for the third-straight year, something that the Sugar Bears haven't done since 2015-18, a stretch that included two NCAA Tournament appearances. Now one game away from postseason, the Sugar Bears have a chance to make it 20 wins again and can lock up anywhere from a 2 seed to a 4 seed. Tied in the standings with Jacksonville and Stetson, the Sugar Bears control almost none of their destiny in terms of seeding; wins from the other two teams locks Central Arkansas into the 4 seed, but losses from either puts the Sugar Bears ahead, with a win on Friday.
 
Prior to tip-off, the Sugar Bears will honor five seniors on the team. Zoe Hubbs, the team's student manager for four years, has been instrumental in keeping the program organized and moving forward behind the scenes. Handling key parts of practices, travel, and anything else that makes life easier for the Sugar Bears, Hubbs has been a consistent, reliable member of the Sugar Bear family. Kaidyn Beckwith, a walk-on from Conway, finishes her degree early and will finish her playing career as a shining example of a great teammate and part of the selfless culture of Central Arkansas basketball. Julianna Gibson finishes her playing career after spending her last year with the Sugar Bears. An intelligent post presence, Gibson has scored nearly 500 points in her career, adding over 300 rebounds in 106 career games.
 
Littleford ends a storied basketball career, having reached 1,000 career points in a Sugar Bear uniform after spending four seasons at UT Martin. The guard enters the game north of 1,300 career points, and has set career-highs in points, three-pointers and rebounds in Purple and Gray. The final senior will be Stephens, who finishes her college career as arguably the best defensive player in Central Arkansas's Division I history. She ranks first all-time since making the jump to Division I with 172 blocks, nearly 70 more than second place, third in defensive rebounds, and sixth in steals. An excellent all-around player, she also moved into the top-10 in career assists in the Division I era, and was last season's ASUN Defensive Player of the Year.
 
This class, though mostly transfers, has helped Central Arkansas turn the page in the ASUN, with head coach Tony Kemper, creating one of the consistent powerhouses in the league. With Stephens and Beckwith, the Sugar Bears have made two ASUN Championship Finals, and with Gibson and Littleford, seem poised to make another run through an ASUN Championship this season.
 
Friday won't be the first meeting of the season with Queens, the Sugar Bears and Royals played once already in Charlotte. That win, a 64-39 whomping by Central Arkansas, spurred the current win streak, and was the first of five-straight in which Central Arkansas allowed less than 50 points. Kemp had her best game as a Sugar Bear, posting career-highs of 26 points and ten rebounds.
 
Queens comes into the final game of the regular season with a record of 10-18 overall and 4-13 in ASUN contests. The Royals picked up a ten-point win over West Georgia on Tuesday, getting 21 points from Dayuna Colvin and double-digit scoring from three other starters to pull off the upset. The Royals used a 21-11 second quarter to establish a halftime lead of 13-points, and held serve in the second half to win on Senior Day.

Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Farris Center, with Senior Day celebrations shortly before introductions. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats available online. Fans can also follow along at The Bear 91.3, with Steve Owens on the call.