Courtesy UCA Athletics Department
HAMMOND, La. — Central Arkansas combined its best shooting day of the season, a strong defensive effort, and a career day from senior Britney Gowans to score its second consecutive 16-point road win – defeating Southeastern Louisiana 76-60 at the University Center on Saturday.
The Sugar Bears (9-4, 2-0 Southland), who have yet to trail through two conference games, hit a season-high nine 3-pointers on 19 attempts (47.4 percent) and shot 54.5 percent from the field while holding the Lady Lions (7-6, 0-2) below their season average with a 38.6 shooting percentage.
“I’m very happy to get this road win,” said UCA head coach Sandra Rushing. “I’m proud of the players – they played extremely hard and never quit. Any time you can win on the road in conference is good, and I’m very proud to be going home 2-0. I’m really pleased with the effort, and we were able to go to our bench and our bench contributed when we needed them when we got in foul trouble.”
Gowans was the catalyst for the Sugar Bears, getting 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting including a 5-for-6 performance beyond the arc. Gowans, who also had three rebounds, three assists and two steals, easily eclipsed her previous career scoring high of 16 points.
Five Sugar Bears scored in double figures, with Megan Herbert scoring 15, Desiree’ Rogers 11, and Courtney Duever and Tracey Parsons 10 each. Herbert also had a game-high 13 rebounds for her 72nd career double-double, moving her into a tie for 7th place in Division I history with hall of famer Cheryl Miller (USC 1983-86) and Chris Moreland (Duke, 1985-88). Duever added nine rebounds and Parson had seven assists for the Sugar Bears.
Aja Gibson led the Lady Lions with 11 points.
An 11-0 run to close the first half gave Central Arkansas a 40-27 halftime lead, and the Lady Lions never seriously threatened in the second half. SLU cut its deficit to as few as seven, but the Sugar Bears went on a 19-6 run to get a 20-point lead, and eventually extended it to as many as 23 as they eased their way to a sweep in their first conference road swing of the year.
The Sugar Bears will now return home to face Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State on Thursday and Saturday.
“I’m excited about going home,” Rushing said. “Any time you play at home, you want to defend your home court – no question about it. We’ve got a little streak going, and I’m happy to be a part of it and want to continue it. We just beat two very solid teams that were athletic and very well-coached, and now we have to go do it at home.”
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