CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas women's basketball team put together another strong defensive effort Monday night, limiting the North Alabama Lions en route to a 59-48 win in the Farris Center.
The Sugar Bears improved to 14-10 overall and 7-5 in ASUN games, along with a 7-3 home record.
Cheyanne Kemp led the team with 16 points and seven rebounds,
Shae Littleford had 13 points, and
Bree Stephens stuffed the stat sheet with ten points, seven rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals. The Sugar Bears limited the Lions to 35 percent shooting from the field, 22 percent from three, and forced 16 turnovers in the win.
Central Arkansas didn't fly out of the gates offensively, but stayed close to the Lions through the first chunk of the first quarter, and the teams were tied at 8-8 midway through the frame. North Alabama put together a 7-0 run to take a lead over the next two minutes, threatening to run away early. But Central Arkansas punched back, starting with a Littleford steal and score with just under two minutes to go. Stephens hit a three on the next possession, and a
Jenna Cook sequence with a three-pointer and a steal and score capped a 10-0 run by the Sugar Bears, turning the seven-point deficit into a three-point lead.
The teams battled back and forth throughout the early minutes of the second quarter, and it took until the eight-minute mark for either team to score. North Alabama was determined to keep it close, and succeeded in doing so, never allowing the Sugar Bear lead to grow more than six. That margin was reached by a Kemp three-pointer, and marked the biggest lead of the half for Central Arkansas. North Alabama matched it with a 5-0 burst, and added a pair of scores late in the frame to take a one-point lead to the locker room.
Julianna Gibson tied the game at the free throw line to start the third, but North Alabama continued to put pressure on the Central Arkansas defense to keep a small lead. Back-to-back scores by the Sugar Bears got the game tied once m, and a three-point play from Littleford gave the home team a three-point lead, and Central Arkansas never looked back. Littleford added a three-pointer to push the lead again, part of an eight-point quarter by the graduate guard, and Central Arkansas began to pull away, turning the one-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead after the third quarter. Paint touches were key to the turnaround, with the Sugar Bears scoring ten of their 17 points near the rim.
Central Arkansas put a big-time nail in the coffin to start the fourth; Stephens and Cook buried back-to-back three-pointers to stretch the lead to ten, forcing a timeout from the visitors that got the entire bench on its feet. And even though North Alabama scored on two-straight possessions to cut the lead back to six, Central Arkansas just put the boot back down on the throat, scoring eight-straight points to climb back to 14 points with 4:15 to go. After a Lion split a pair at the line another shot from distance by Littleford gave Central Arkansas its biggest lead of the game at 16 points, putting the final result out of question.
The Sugar Bears allowed just 22 points in the second half, compared to 34 from the offense. Littleford scored 11 in the final two quarters, and the Lions were held to 32 percent from the field and 18 percent from three. It gave Central Arkansas a third-straight win, fifth in the last seven games, and sets up a massive meeting against EKU on Thursday. Tip-off against the currently undefeated Colonels is set for 5:30 CT in Richmond, Kentucky.
