Sugar Bears
Sugar Bears hit road for final two games of regular season to finish week
UCA is currently one of two ASUN schools to log 20 wins in each of the last two seasons
CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas wraps up the regular season with a pair of road games, hitting the trail to face EKU on Thursday at 6 p.m. before capping the year at North Alabama on Saturday, also at 6 p.m.
The Sugar Bears (20-7, 14-2 ASUN) reached 20 wins for the second-straight season with a win over West Georgia on Senior Day, claiming a 72-62 win in the Farris Center.
Jade Upshaw led all scorers with 22 points, Bree Stephens tied her career-high in Purple and Gray with 16, and Kinley Fisher logged 12 points and a career-high six assists.
UCA is currently one of two ASUN schools to log 20 wins in each of the last two seasons, and claimed the league’s No. 2 seed in next week’s ASUN Championship. This guarantees at least a quarterfinal game in the Farris Center next Saturday, after hosting a neutral play-in game on Friday.
As the season winds down, the Sugar Bears have seen a great deal of scoring production from seniors Jade Upshaw and Leah Mafua. Both excellent shooters, the pair combines for over 30 points in ASUN games on 43 percent shooting from the floor.
Bree Stephens continues to be dominant on the defensive side, with a league-high 53 blocks in 16 ASUN games.
EKU (19-10, 9-7 ASUN) is in a fight for the ASUN’s No. 4 seed, tied with Stetson in the standings with two games left.
After winning five of six games in February, the Colonels suffered a setback last time out at Jacksonville, falling 80-72 to the Dolphins.
Three Colonels scored in double-figures, including a game-high 27 from senior Alice Recanati, along with 16 points from each of Liz Freihofer and Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor.
But a big fourth quarter from Jacksonville turned the tide, and the Dolphins outscored the Colonels 32-17 in the fourth to snag the win.
Four Colonels average double-figures on the season, and in ASUN games, Recanati leads the team with 13.1 points per game. A senior-heavy team, seven Colonels are in at least their fourth year of basketball, including five of the team’s top six scorers.
North Alabama (12-15, 7-9 ASUN) was in contention for one of the league’s higher spots a month ago, sitting at 7-4 in league play before a five-game slide dropped the Lions to fighting for the eighth seed, one game ahead of Austin Peay.
The Lions slipped up against FGCU last time out, losing by just ten to the Eagles, the third team to be within ten of Gulf Coast. Charity Gallegos scored 16, Katie Criswell had 15, and Jazzy Klinge pulled in 10 rebounds for the Lions.
Gallegos (13.8 ppg) and Criswell (8.6) have been the leading scorers for North Alabama, a team that the Sugar Bears saw in the Farris Center a couple of weeks ago.
That matchup saw UCA jump out early, up 14 at the half before coasting to a 21-point win.
Tip-offs this week are both at 6 p.m. Both games are on ESPN+ and have live stats available online. As always, fans can keep up with the action on 91.3 The Bear, with Steve Owens on the call.
Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.
