CONWAY - Central Arkansas center Courtney Duever outscored Stephen F. Austin by herself in the second half Saturday afternoon at the Farris Center.
The senior scored 18 of her 25 points in the second half as the Sugar Bears routed Stephen F. Austin 65-42 in front of an announced crowd of 1,215.
Stephen F. Austin was held to 14 points and 5-of-20 shooting (25 percent) in the second half during a game featuring the top two defensive teams in the Southland Conference.
“Our defense made it happen,” said Duever, who also had 11 rebounds. “Our guards got me the ball and got it at the right time. We had great passes. We had rebounds on the defensive end.”
UCA put together one of its best defensive performances since Coach Sandra Rushing arrived at Conway in 2012.
“When players commit to defense, things like this will happen,” said Rushing, whose team is allowing an average of 58.2 points per game. “We can’t rely on our offense night in and night out.”
UCA (12-6, 6-1) remained in first place in the Southland standings.
“We’re keeping our head in the game,” Duever said. “The coaches haven’t let up on us. We’re doing an incredible job of playing as a team.”
UCA led 32-28 at halftime before pulling away in the second half.
The Lady Lumberjacks pulled to within 42-35 with 11:33 remaining, but that was as close as they would get as UCA used a 21-0 run to increase its lead to 63-35 at the 4:53 mark. Duever scored nine points during the run, including two three-point plays.
“Courtney had a great second half,” Rushing said of Duever, who is UCA’s leading scorer (13.9 ppg).
UCA shot 52 percent (13 of 25) in the second half and 41.5 percent (22 of 53) overall. Stephen F. Austin finished 16 of 45 (35.6 percent) from the field.
Freshman guard Maggie Proffitt’s three-pointer from the left wing with 20 seconds left before halftime extended UCA’s lead to 32-28. It was her third three-pointer of the half.
Proffitt scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half. Freshman guard Brianna Mullins added nine.
Center Porsha Roberts led Stephen F. Austin with 13 points and guard Taylor Ross had 11 as the Lady ’Jacks were held to their lowest point total this season.
SOUTHLAND MEN STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 66, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 49
CONWAY - Jacob Parker had 21 points and 11 rebounds as Stephen F. Austin (18-2, 7-0 Southland Conference) handed Central Arkansas (4-14, 1-6) its fifth consecutive loss Saturday afternoon at the Farris Center.
The Bears led 9-0 with 16:11 left in the first half, but the Lumberjacks outscored UCA 30-15 the rest of the half to take a 30-24 lead.
UCA cut the lead to 47-41, but Deshaunt Walker made two consecutive three-pointers to make it 53-43 with 6:17 remaining.
Walker finished with 19 points, including five three-pointers.
“[Walker] made them at crucial times,” UCA interim coach Clarence Finley said.
The Bears were out rebounded 39-20 and gave up 15 offensive rebounds. UCA also turned over the ball 20 times, and finished 14 of 27 (51.9 percent) from the free-throw line.
“It’s always going to be a bugaboo for us,” Finley said. “It’s a mind-set. It’s a mental thing, not a physical thing.”
Senior guard LaQuentin Miles led the Bears with 23 points. DeShone McClure added six for UCA, which shot 47.2 percent (17 of 36) from the field.
Sports, Pages 26 on 01/26/2014