CONWAY — The Central Arkansas women’s basketball team was on the verge of losing its first regular-season home game in almost two years Thursday night at the Farris Center.
Courtney Duever prevented that from happening.
The junior forward scored eight of her 14 points in the final 5:29 as the Sugar Bears held off Stephen F. Austin 57-54 in front of 640.
UCA, which led 38-21 at halftime, held Stephen F. Austin without a field goal after the Lady ’Jacks led 53-47 with 5:29 remaining.
“All of our mind-sets were the same: If you have an open basket, take it,” said Duever, who also had 10 rebounds. “We have great rebounders in [Desiree] Rogers and [Megan] Herbert. If I miss it, I’m not too worried about not getting a rebound. We have faith in our ability. Our defense will handle it.”
The victory was UCA’s 24th consecutive regular season triumph at the Farris Center. The Sugar Bears (10-4, 3-0 Southland Conference)haven’t lost a regular-season game at home since Feb. 2, 2011, when they fell to Northwestern (La.) State.
Herbert, a senior forward, had a game-high 26 points - including 20 in the first half - and finished with 7 rebounds.
Duever scored six consecutive points, including a layup that gave UCA a 54-53 lead with 3:01 remaining. She scored again for a 56-53 advantage and then blocked Annette Davis’ shot.
Stephen F. Austin’s Tierany Henderson made 1 of 2 free throws to pull the Lady ’Jacks within 56-54 with 26.9 seconds left.
With 16.9 seconds remaining, Rogers made it 57-54 after making one of two free throws. Rogers missed two free throws with five seconds left and Stephen F. Austin (6-9, 1-3) had a chance to tie the game, but Henderson’s three-pointer went off the rim as UCA won its fourth consecutive game.
“We needed a close game,” UCA Coach Sandra Rushing said. “We needed to figure out how to win a close ballgame. I’d like it to be about 15-20 points, but we beat a good basketball team tonight.”
Stephen F. Austin Coach Brandon Schneider was disappointed in his team’s inability to finish down the stretch.
“When it’s time to close, we had too many empty possessions, whether it’s turnovers or not knocking down shots,” Schneider said. “We’re still a young team, but if we want to be a factor, we have to grow up in a hurry.”
Daylyn Harris and Davis each had 15 points to lead Stephen F. Austin.
During the first two months of the season, the Sugar Bears had to adjust to Rushing’s defensive-first style. But after a 3-0 start in Southland Conference play, UCA seems to have found its way under Rushing, who came to Conway from Delta State last May to replace Matt Daniel, who is now at Marshall.
“In the beginning, we thought she was crazy, like any new coach,” Duever said. “But our defense has been picking it up. The offense will come. The whole coaching staff just know we can win.”
SOUTHLAND MEN STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 77, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 69
CONWAY - Taylor Smith finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead Stephen F. Austin past Central Arkansas in front of an announced crowd of 1,672 at the Farris Center.
The Bears (5-7, 0-3 Southland Conference) were out rebounded 42-28 and allowed 14 offensive rebounds.
“For them to keep us off the boards like that, that’s very disheartening,” UCA Coach Corliss Williamson said. “We weren’t able to keep them off the glass. They were able to get second-chance rebounds, which kills your momentum.”
Stephen F. Austin (13-1, 4-0) jumped out to a 17-7 lead en route to a 38-31 halftime advantage. The Bears cut the Lumberjacks’ lead to 47-42 in the second half, but that was as close as they could get.
Junior guard LaQuentin Miles, who missed the Bears’ past five games with a broken hand, led UCA with 21 points. Fellow junior guard DeShone McClure added 10 points.
Four other players scored at least 10 points for Stephen F. Austin. Jacob Parker scored 15 points, Hal Bateman had 13 and Antonio Bostic and Desmond Haymon added 10 each.
The Bears host Northwestern (La.) State on Saturday and will try to avoid an 0-4 start in conference play.
Sports, Pages 22 on 01/11/2013