CONWAY — As her team trailed 57-55 with less than six seconds remaining in regulation, Central Arkansas senior guard Britney Gowans turned to the school’s men’s team for inspiration.
Two days earlier, Jarvis Garner hit game-tying three pointers at the end of regulation and the first overtime en route to the UCA men’s victory over McNeese State.
On Saturday, Gowans provided the late drama at the Farris Center.
Gowans drove the length of the floor after Lamar’s Kalis Loyd missed a free throw, and Gowans hit a running layup with no time left to tie the game at 57-57, paving the way for the Sugar Bears to defeat the Cardinals 67-62 in overtime in front of 1,952.
The Sugar Bears had a 22-game home winning streak end Thursday, and they were on the verge of losing consecutive games at the Farris Center for the first time since 2008-2009.
But thanks to Gowans, the Sugar Bears defended their home court, where they are 48-7 since the 2009-2010 season.
“I thought about Jarvis,” Gowans said. “I call him my big bro. He told me we had to come back and show everybody we could win. I just thought about him when I got the ball and said, ‘I can do this, I can do this.’ ”
UCA Coach Sandra Rushing praised Gowans’ effort as “smart basketball.”
“We didn’t have any timeouts left,” Rushing said. “She had to get to the hole. She wasn’t going to pass it - and she shouldn’t have. She drove the defense down in the paint.”
Junior center Courtney Duever, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds, scored six of her points in overtime.
Senior forward Megan Herbert finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds for UCA (13-6, 6-2 Southland).
Rushing said she believes Saturday’s victory could provide momentum for the Sugar Bears, instead of heading into the second half of the conference schedule having lost 3 of 4.
“It’s a confidence builder,” Rushing said. “We’re not always going to shoot well. But you have to be consistent defensively. The defense got us back into the game.”
The Sugar Bears shot 28 percent (9 of 28) on their way to a 36-28 halftime deficit, and UCA trailed 42-30 with 16:51 remaining in the second half. But the Sugar Bears outscored Lamar 18-2 to take a 48-44 lead.
Lamar came back to take a 56-53 lead on baskets from Alice Robinson and Carenn Baylor. Herbert scored before Loyd made 1 of 2 free throws for a 57-55 Lamar advantage.
Lamar scored the first two points of overtime, but Duever scored four consecutive to give UCA a 61-59 lead. Jasmin Henderson hit a three-pointer with 2:15 left to put Lamar up 62-61.
Duever came back to make it 63-62 with 1:28 left, and Gowans made two free throws to extend the lead to 65-62 with 14.7 seconds left.
Loyd, who had a game-high 25 points for Lamar (12-6, 5-3), missed a tying three-point attempt and Herbert was fouled with 0.4 seconds left. Herbert made two free throws to set the final score.
“We made some mental mistakes,” Rushing said. “But down the stretch, I thought we grew as a team. We rallied and understood what we had to do.”
Sports, Pages 28 on 01/27/2013