13 Mar 2024 Sugar Bears book ticket to ASUN final with win over EKU
CONWAY — Women’s basketball head coach Tony Kemper led his team to a couple of monumental achievements Tuesday night, as the Sugar Bears defeated Eastern Kentucky 68-57 to send themselves to an ASUN Championship Final. Not only did it mark the first championship final for Central Arkansas since joining the ASUN, but it also marked the 100th career win for Kemper.
The Sugar Bears improved to 21-10 on the year, and the win came because of hot shooting from a number of sources throughout the game. Jade Upshaw and Leah Mafua led the way early, both posting seven points in the first quarter, Randrea Wright had eight by halftime, and Kinley Fisher closed it out with ten in the fourth quarter. The quartet combined for 54 points, nearly matching the Colonels without even needing a fifth player.
“That one feels pretty good. We had a fantastic crowd that mattered, we played tough defensively. I thought our start was really important, we did that the other night too,” Kemper said of the win. “We knew they were going to score, so we would have to counterpunch. Having the lead that we had right out of the gate really mattered. They cut it to two multiple times late, so I think the start was really good for us to set the tone.”
And indeed, the start for Central Arkansas was great. Maybe not as great as the 17-0 start from the last meeting, but even on Tuesday, the lead reached double-figure in the first quarter. Mafua and Upshaw got going early, each one scoring seven points in the first quarter to build a quick 11-point lead. But just like the previous matchup, and most games in the Farris Center, it was the defensive intensity that helped separate the teams. Central Arkansas allowed the Colonels to shoot just 28 percent, and no individual Colonel had more than three points in the opening frame. It also marked the 20th time this season that a Sugar Bear opponent failed to reach ten points in a quarter.
Eastern Kentucky was not going to go quietly, however, whittling the lead back to five points within a couple of minutes of the second quarter. And it would stay single digits for the remainder of the quarter, with teams matching each other bucket for bucket. A three-pointer from EKU with 4:27 left in the first half made it 27-24, but back-to-back scores from Upshaw and Fisher stretched the lead back to multiple possessions. Then, with seconds left on the clock and a six-point lead, Wright hit her defender with a terrific crossover into a stepback jumper, knocking down the shot at the buzzer to send her team into the locker room up eight.
Central Arkansas rebuilt its lead out of halftime, stretching it to double-figures for much of the third. Balanced scoring had the Sugar Bears up as much as 14 points before an 8-0 run by the Colonels shrunk the lead to six going to the fourth quarter. The run continued into the fourth quarter, and suddenly, a 12-0 run had the lead at just two points. A Fisher layup ended the streak, and kept the Sugar Bears up by four. Central Arkansas would then put together two scores and a stop multiple times throughout the middle of the fourth, edging the lead to six, then up to eight, then back to ten with 3:50 to go. Fisher, in particular, used a flurry of footwork inside the paint to get to the line over and over, scoring ten points in just the final quarter.
The Sugar Bears now turn their attention to Saturday’s championship game against FGCU. After falling to the Eagles in Fort Myers last time the teams met, it will take a titanic effort to topple the league’s number one seed on their home floor. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, with a chance to go to the Big Dance for the first time since 2017.
