28 Dec 2022 Sugar Bears celebrate big win, play again today

CONWAY — The Central Arkansas women’s basketball team will face Alabama A&M at 1 p.m. today at the Farris Center. The team headed into the holiday break on a high note after taming the Lady Tigers of Champion Christian with a 68-48 final score. All eight Sugar Bears scored in what was a complete team win on Dec. 21.

In that game, Freshman Parris Atkins led the team in scoring, tying a season-high with 15 points. She was also active in the passing lanes and on the boards, coming away with three swipes and matching a season-best with six rebounds. Kinley Fisher used the three-ball to set a new personal-best as well, notching 11 points on three shots from beyond the arc.

Knowing that Champion Christian was a high-volume three-point shooting team, the Sugar Bears came out determined to disrupt passing lanes and close out on shooters. But after falling behind 8-4 midway through the first, Central Arkansas regained its composure and put on a defensive clinic, blitzing the Lady Tigers with a 24-0 run through the end of the first to the early second quarter, shutting out Champion Christian for almost eight minutes.

The Lady Tigers finally ended the streak with a pair of free throws in the early minutes of the second, but the damage was done. Central Arkansas continued to pour it on, stretching the lead to more than 20 while holding Champion Christian without an answer. When the dust had settled on the first half, Randrea Wright had nine points on 4-of-4 shooting with a three-ball, and five Sugar Bears had scored at least five points. On the other side, Champion Christian shot just 20 percent from the field, but hit 10-of-11 free throws to maintain a line of scoring.

After the halfway point, the Sugar Bears and Lady Tigers settled in and traded shots in the second half. Champion Christian continued to be aggressive in the paint and earn free throws, while Central Arkansas’ forays into the paint were rewarded with baskets. Most importantly, the ball kept moving for the Sugar Bears; passes circled the perimeter, probing the defense for soft spots before turning good shots into great shots with an extra pass. Kayla Mitchell was the primary distributor on the afternoon, dishing three of her season-best seven assists in the third quarter. Adding to what was already an impressive number, Mitchell also kept her turnovers down, only committing one late in the game when the game was already out of reach.

The defense played well against the Lady Tigers, holding the visitors to just 28 percent from the field and 23 percent from beyond the arc. Central Arkansas also came away with 12 steals, including a second-straight game of five from Mitchell. Six Sugar Bears turned over a Lady Tiger in live-action, as the team matched a season-high in steals.