KATY, Texas -- The top-seeded University of Central Arkansas women finished one Southland Conference Tournament semifinal in the same manner it began: Dominant.
An 11-0 fourth-quarter run allowed the Sugar Bears to pull away from fifth-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 62-44 at the Merrell Center on Saturday, assuring them a berth in their second consecutive tournament championship game.
Today's championship game with No. 3 seed Stephen F. Austin will be televised on CBS Sports Network at noon Central. The Ladyjacks defeated Lamar 62-48 in Saturday's other semifinal.
"We beat a very good Corpus team," said UCA Coach Sandra Rushing, the Southland Coach of the Year. "This team found a way to win. They showed a lot of heart and a lot of passion."
The Sugar Bears (25-4) held the Islanders (14-18) to just 3-of-11 shooting in the fourth quarter. Maggie Proffitt scored consecutive field goals and grabbed a rebound during the decisive stretch as part of a 21-point, four-rebound afternoon.
Proffitt also played a factor in containing the Islanders' Kassie Jones and Brittany Mbamalu, who were held to just 5-of-18 shooting. While Jones finished with a team-high 13 points, Mbamalu was only able to take just four shots on the afternoon.
"We knew they came out and played great on Friday," said Proffitt, who played 38 minutes. "Coach told Taylor Sells and Bhrea Griffin that they were going to be the X-factor. We knew that if we could stop them from scoring, we'd have a pretty good shot at winning."
UCA put the game away on a three-point play from Kierra Jordan with 2:02 left, giving them a 56-43 lead. Jordan scored 10 points and grabbed 6 of the Sugar Bears' 43 rebounds.
"When she's in the ballgame, people really have to concentrate on her and double-team, and that opens up the paint," Rushing said of Jordan.
UCA opened the game hitting 6 of their its first 8 shots to bolt out to a 13-0 lead. Taylor Baudoin and Proffitt combined to score the first nine points.
"They were the aggressor today on both ends of the court," TAMU-CC Coach Royce Chadwick. "They took it to us. They were aggressive and they smashed us on the boards. They were ready to play."
Held without a field goal until Booth's basket with 2:51 left in the first quarter, the Islanders survived their early sluggishness and got back into the game.
The Islanders were unable to overcome the double-digit deficit until Jones' jumper with three seconds left in the first half trimmed the deficit to 29-20.
Sports on 03/12/2017