Basketball
Sugar Bears fall in first round of WNIT to Billikens
Saint Louis out-scored UCA by double digits in the third quarter and made it hold to the end to finish season
CONWAY, Ark. — Despite a valiant second-half comeback in the first round of the WNIT, Central Arkansas couldn’t quite get over the hump against Saint Louis on Thursday night at the Farris Center.
The Sugar Bears fell 66-61, ending their season against the Billikens. The loss ended the Sugar Bear season with a 21-12 record after hosting a national postseason tournament game for the third year in program history. Jade Upshaw finished with 17 points, with Leah Mafua also contributing double-figures with 12. Mafua, along with Bree Stephens, combined for eight blocked shots, with the New Zealander rejecting five and the Australian blocking three.
“I’m really proud of what this group accomplished. I’m super proud of the fan support, what a great atmosphere, we’re so appreciative of them coming back. We talked about this, these players are an exciting group to watch,” coach Tony Kemper said postgame. “We got in some tough spots tonight, and we talked about battling back, and I was very proud of the fact that we got it back tied. Sometimes, that ball bounces around and in for you, sometimes it goes in for them.”
UCA Bears coach Tony Kemper on the sidelines in a WNIT game against the St. Louis Billikens at the Farris Center on March 21, 2024.
Ted McClenning / allBEARS+ Images
Play was tightly contested and extremely back and forth for the majority of the first half, with the lead never getting above four in the first quarter. The Sugar Bears, in particular, relied on balanced scoring in the opening frame, with six players scoring once to get the home team to 12 points. Defensively, Central Arkansas was playing exactly like they wanted to, forcing tough shots from Saint Louis and holding the Billikens to 11 points. The Sugar Bears were also dominant inside early on, scoring ten points in the paint.
As the teams rolled into the second quarter, the Sugar Bears were able to build an eight-point lead thanks to three-straight threes from Upshaw. The junior guard was automatic from deep during the run, even turning away from the third one before the ball even made it to the rim. Upshaw’s personal run was 13-straight for the Sugar Bears, on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor and 3-for-3 from distance, and she led all scorers in the first half with her spurt. But the Billikens weren’t going anywhere, cutting the lead back down to two before the halftime buzzer.
Saint Louis got going out of the halftime break, tying the game on three different possessions before claiming their first lead of the second half a couple minutes in. After a split pair of free throws by the Sugar Bears tied it at 35 apiece, the Billikens took the lead again and raced out to an eight-point lead, matching the largest lead of the game.
UCA Bears’ Bree Stephens drives for a layup in a WNIT game against the St. Louis Billikens at the Farris Center on March 21, 2024.
Ted McClenning / allBEARS+ Images
The Sugar Bears stymied the visitors from building it any higher, but couldn’t cut into it before the end of the frame. Elizabeth Abiara was huge in the third, scoring six points on three shots, two of which were on offensive rebounds. Her presence inside kept the Billikens from attacking the paint too much, but good shooting from elsewhere on the floor allowed Saint Louis to claim the lead.
The lead touched ten twice, both in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, but then the Sugar Bears got to work. Trailing by double-figures, Central Arkansas put a 6-0 run together to cut it to four, then a quick 4-2 spurt had the lead at two. Leah Mafua hit a three down four to slice the lead back to one, and a free throw with 50 seconds left tied the game. But tied at 61, the Billikens were able to wrestle control of the game away, scoring the final five points to pull away at the end.
“I’m happy we played in that game, in this building, hopefully it fuels the future, and we go from where we are now, and improve for coming back next year,” Kemper added.
Basketball
Sugar Bears fall to No. 9 Kansas State 86-39
UCA lost its second game of the season to Kansas State, giving the Bears two losses to Power 4 Conference teams.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Central Arkansas women’s basketball team got an up close look at what it takes to be one of the best teams in the nation on Sunday.
No. 9 Kansas State defeated the Sugar Bears 86-39, dropping their record to 4-2 to start the season. Both of UCA losses were to Power 4 Conference teams. Jade Upshaw and Randrea Wright led UCA in scoring with eight points each, Kinley Fisher had six points and Bree Stephens had five. Cheyenne Banks led the team in rebounds with four defensive rebounds.
It took some time for the Sugar Bears to adjust to the size and length of the Wildcats, and the first half was tough for UCA. Early turnovers created a double-digit deficit quickly, and UCA couldn’t find the offense to get back into it. It didn’t help that Kansas State has shooters at every spot surrounding their bigs, as the home team shot 53 percent from the field and 48 percent from deep.
The second half started off better for UCA, making five of their first six shots but Kansas State matched each bucket with one of its own. Despite signs of improved play in the second half, the Sugar Bears never threatened to close the gap with Kansas State. UCA did end up outscoring the Wildcats 14-9 in the game’s final quarter of play.
UCA returns home for its next game on Saturday against Little Rock at 1 p.m.
Basketball
UCA falls to Georgia Tech 87-68
The Bears dropped their fifth game to start to the 2024-25 campaign against Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon.
ATLANTA – Central Arkansas men’s basketball team fell behind early against Georgia Tech and couldn’t comeback falling 87-68 at McCamish Pavilion on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead and never looked back, improving their record to 4-3 overall. UCA, who was missing five players for Saturday’s contest, fell to 2-5 to start the 2024-25 campaign.
“The first two minutes of the game, they punched us in the mouth,” said UCA head coach John Shulman. “We’re down 10-0. (associate head coach) Brock (Widders) said with 3:30 to go in the game, we were down one in the second half. So if we just take care of the first two minutes, it’s a two-point game with three to play.
“I thought their athleticism and size wore us down and we could never get over the hump. It was a 9 to 12-point game the entire game. At an ACC venue, at Georgia Tech. So it is what it is. Their size and length hurt us. But I can’t ask Elias (Cato) and Layne (Taylor) and Brayden (Fagbemi) and Michael (Fagbemi) to do a whole lot more than what they’re doing. They’re all playing too many minutes.”
Layne Taylor led the Bears with 20 poiints and three rebound while Elias Cato had 17 and 4 and Brayden Fagbemi had 15 and six.
The Bears kept cutting into their deficit but the Yellow Jackets kept responding down the stretch in the second half. A Taylor three-pointer got UCA within 51-45 early in the second half. Another by Fagbemi made it a 58-51 margin with 13:00 left.
A 10-2 run by Georgia Tech pushed it back out to a 15-point lead with 8:30 remaining before Taylor nailed another corner three. Georgia Tech could never quite pull away from the Bears, despite making 13 three-pointers and winning the rebound battle 41-28, but UCA could not get the margin to single digits.
UCA has three consecutive in-state foes coming up, all on the road. The Bears play at Little Rock on Wednesday, at UAPB on Saturday and vs. Arkansas on Dec. 14 at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock.
Basketball
Bears drop game against SEMO that will sting for awhile
UCA comes close, but missed free throws in overtime lead to 76-73 loss to Redhawks on Thursday night
CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas battled into overtime on Thursday before falling 77-73 to the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in non-conference action at the Farris Center.
UCA, which got 20 points apiece from senior Elias Cato and sophomore Brayden Fagbemi, misfired on three free throws in the overtime period. Fagbemi made two of two at the line with 12.5 seconds left to get the Bears within three at 76-73.
UCA guard Brayden Fagbemi driving against Southeast Missouri at the Farris Center. / Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
Sophomore Michael Evbagharu then stole a SEMO pass and Cato was fouled. Cato, UCA’s lone senior who also had seven rebounds to go with his 20 points, missed both free throw attempts. SEMO’s Marqueas Bell made 1 of 2 for a 77-73 lead with 6.8 to play before Brendan Terry missed two more for the Redhawks.
“Athletics and basketball and sports is a very finicky, and sometimes very cruel game,” said UCA coach John Shulman. “That’s why not everybody can do it. You’ve got a bunch of hurting kids in there, who have busted their tail ends and not getting rewarded for it.
“It is what is it. It’s the test. What are you going to do now. Are you going to keep on working or are you just going to feel sorry for yourself. That’s what’s hard. I hate it for the kids, because they deserved better tonight. They deserved better against Western Illinois. We deserved better but we didn’t get better, so what are you going to do. You just have to get back to work.”
UCA forward Elias Cato driving against Southeast Missouri at the Farris Center. / Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
The teams played to a 34-34 halftime tie, despite the Bears hitting just 1 of 6 from three-point range. For the game, UCA was an uncharacteristic 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
“You have to get the foul line in that particular situation and miss, to understand what if feels like,” said Shulman. “I don’t know how many true freshmen are playing in America. But if we can all just take a deep breath and hang in there with these young kids … these are true freshmen, and they’re taking big shots.
“So let’s just see what those big shots look like in January (when ASUN play begins).”
UCA forward Michael Evbagharu driving against Southeast Missouri at the Farris Center. / Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
The game featured 15 lead changes and 17 ties, with six points the biggest lead for either team.
“It felt like a conference game,” said Shulman. “I thought Saturday (at WIU) felt like a conference game. And to be honest, I think we got better tonight. I wish we had a result. I wish we could say, hey look at us, we’re rocking and rolling. I can’t say that. But I feel a lot different than I did after Western Illinois.
“I thought our effort was really good. I think we got better tonight.”
The Bears will be at home again at 1 p.m. Sunday, facing UNC Asheville, which will play SEMO at 6:30 Friday night as part of UCA’s multi-team event
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