CONWAY — Even with a Southland Conference Tournament berth in hand, the Central Arkansas women’s basketball team wasn’t planning on letting up Saturday afternoon against Southeastern Louisiana.
The Sugar Bears, who clinched a tournament berth Wednesday at Nicholls State, routed the Lions 79-61 in front of an announced crowd of 1,831 at the Farris Center.
UCA (17-10, 9-5 Southland Conference) is tied with Sam Houston State for fourth in the conference standings, but the Bearkats own the tiebreaker with their head-tohead victory over UCA last Saturday.
Since losing two consecutive at McNeese State and Sam Houston State, the Sugar Bears have shown a different mentality the past two games.
“There’s no doubt,” UCA Coach Matt Daniel said. “Hopefully it’s something we can build on. But it’s something I’m certainly cautious of reveling in. We want to keep that focus and stay hungry.”
Nakeia Guiden scored a season-high 21 points on 6 of 6 shooting. Guiden also made 9 of 9 free throws.
“She had a good game,” Daniel said. “She did a great job defensively, put them in foul trouble and took their point guard out of the game.”
In its first home game since Feb. 6, UCA shot 60 percent (15 of 25) from the field in the first half and finished 26 of 47 (55.3).
The Sugar Bears made their first five field goals for a 12-6 lead. After Southeastern Louisiana (12-14, 4-10) cut the lead to 12-8, Guiden scored seven of UCA’s next 17 points to help the Sugar Bears increase their lead to 29-13 with 7:13 left. Marci Moffitt and Courtney Duever each hit a three-pointer in the run.
UCA’s largest lead of the half was 38-21 with 3:49 left, and the Sugar Bears took a 40-25 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Sugar Bears kept rolling. Destinee Rogers hit a three-pointer to make it 48-29 with 17:30 left. Later, Duever intercepted a pass from Southeastern Louisiana’s Chelsea Hix and made a layup for a 58-34 lead.
Guiden’s final field goal made it 68-42 with 7:39 left. She exited the game with 4:29 left as UCA had a 77-47 lead. Guiden’s previous season high was 19 points against Southeastern Louisiana Jan. 26.
“Nakeia does a good job of getting to the basket and we know it,” Southeastern Louisiana Coach Lori Davis Jones said.
“She’s going to have it against us on a regular basis because we guard her 1-on-1 and she’s pretty quick. We’re not as quick as she is, so she’s going to be able to get to the basket on us from time to time.”
Megan Herbert was held to 11 points and three rebounds. She did not attempt a shot in the first half and had only two points in the first 20 minutes.
Also for UCA, Desiree Rogers scored 12 points. Duever added 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.
Mary Fountain led Southeastern Louisiana with 11 points.
SOUTHLAND MEN SE LOUISIANA 74, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 63
HAMMOND, La. - Central Arkansas (5-22, 1-13 Southland Conference) lost its eighth consecutive game, losing at Southeastern Louisiana (13-13, 7-7).
Brandon Fortenberry had 16 points and four other Southeastern Louisiana players scored at least 10 points.
Roosevelt Johnson finished with 15 points for the Lions, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Trent Hutchin had 11 points, while DeShawn Patterson and David Ndoumba each added 10 points.
Southeastern Louisiana trailed 38-36 with 15:47 left in the second half, but used an 11-0 run to take a 47-38 lead. Fortenberry had nine points during the run.
Southeastern Louisiana would not allow the Bears to pull closer than five points the rest of the way, leading by as many as 15 points. The Lions shot 53.6 percent (15 of 28) from the field in the second half, holding Central Arkansas to 33.3 percent (10 of 30).
Sports, Pages 30 on 02/27/2011