CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas women's basketball team is back on the road in ASUN play, heading out east to Charlotte, N.C. to take on Queens on Wednesday. Tip-off against the Royals is set for 6 p.m.
The Sugar Bears (11-10, 4-5 ASUN) narrowly missed out on a comeback against Stetson on Saturday. Falling down double-digits at half, Central Arkansas fought all the way back within four points with less than two minutes to go, but the Hatters were able to hang out to the lead.
Shae Littleford and
Bree Stephens each had 15 points, and
Cheyanne Kemp added 14 of her own.
Midway through the ASUN season, the Sugar Bears are in the upper echelon of teams in the league. Central Arkansas has the fourth-best scoring offense (69.2 points) and the fifth-best scoring defense (63.0 points), with the offense led by Littleford's 15.4 points per game, the third-best in the ASUN. Defensively, the Sugar Bears have three of the ASUN's top-20 shot blockers in ASUN games, in
Linda Amaning (1.3 bpg), Stephens (1.0 bpg) and Kemp (0.6 bpg), along with two of the league's top-25 thieves in
Paris Santacaterina (1.4 spg) and Stephens (1.3 spg).
Central Arkansas holds a perfect 4-0 record against Queens since the Royals joined the ASUN. Last season, the Sugar Bears won both games, winning a 66-57 slugfest in Charlotte before taking a 68-50 victory in Conway.
Queens enters the week 8-13 overall and 2-8 in ASUN games. The Royals split two games last week, defeating the shorthanded Bellarmine Knights 100-48 before falling to Eastern Kentucky 74-59. Against Bellarmine, Alyssa Lewis scored 33 points on 10-of-17 three-pointers and three free throws, one of six Royals to score in double-figures. Then, against the Colonels, Jermany Mapp led the team with 16 points, but the high-powered offense of EKU proved to be too much.
Mapp leads the team in scoring on the year, one of three Royals in double-figures, scoring 10.6 points per game. She is joined by Brenea Jones-Grant, who averages 10.4 points, and Ana Barreto, who scores 10.3 points per game. Hannah Hicks leads the team in rebounding (7.1 rebounds per game) and blocked shots (26).
Tip-off against the Royals is set for 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats available online. As always fans can also follow the action on The Bear 91.3, with Steve Owens on the call.
