JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Central Arkansas women's basketball team overcame a halftime deficit to advance to the ASUN Championship Semifinals, defeating North Alabama for the third time this season. The 67-56 win saw Central Arkansas outscore the Lions by 15 in the second half to control the outcome late.
 
The win improves Central Arkansas to 21-10 overall, and the team advanced to the ASUN Championship semifinal for the third-straight season. Laylah Reese poured in 18 points off the bench to lead all scorers, Jenna Cook added 12, and Shae Littleford and Bree Stephens each scored 11. The Central Arkansas bench outscored the Lions 33-3, dominating the game when starters left the floor.
 
Central Arkansas scored the first bucket of the game, a Cheyanne Kemp paint score, but North Alabama opened the game on a tear. The Lions scored the next 13 points, jumping out 11 points as the Sugar Bears searched for a second basket. Kemp added a second score, and Cook hit a three-pointer, and the 5-0 burst got Central Arkansas within striking distance. But North Alabama held the Sugar Bears off from really making that equalizing push. Cook hit a three to cut the lead back to six, but the Sugar Bears shot just 33 percent in the first quarter.
 
Reese scored the first five points of the second, getting the lead back down to four to open the frame. The Cabot native continued to pour it on, scoring 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field with a three-pointer and a pair at the line. Kemp tied the game at 27-27 with just over five minutes to play in the half. Reese hit another pair at the line to give Central Arkansas a lead, but North Alabama made a run to keep a four-point lead at the break. For the first half, Reese scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, and was a plus-seven in 12 minutes of action.
 
After the break, the Central Arkansas defense finally locked in. Julianna Gibson opened the scoring to cut the lead to two, and a 9-2 burst in the first three minutes saw Central Arkansas flip the lead to three-points in favor of the Sugar Bears. Linda Amaning laced a three-pointer with two minutes to go in the frame to push the lead to six, just her third three of the year. North Alabama ended the frame on a 4-0 run, but Central Arkansas had broken serve heading into the fourth. The defense held North Alabama to nine points, the 21^st quarter this season holding an opponent under ten points.
 
Cook and Littleford opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 sprint, breaking the lead up to eight in the first 90 seconds to force a UNA timeout. North Alabama could only get it back to four a couple of times in the next few minutes, but Central Arkansas answered every shot with one on the other side. Reese and Littleford combined to push it back to eight, and Stephens gave Central Arkansas a double-digit lead for the first time with just over four minutes to go in the game. Littleford stuck a three later in the quarter, and North Alabama scored just six points over the final seven minutes of the game.
 
Central Arkansas now braces for a rematch with Jacksonville on Saturday, and seeks to avenge the early-conference loss to reach a third-straight ASUN Championship Final. Tip-off against the Dolphins is set for 12:30 p.m. CT.