Sugar Bears
Upshaw, Fisher lead Sugar Bears to win in I-40 Showdown
UCA pulls away in the fourth quarter to down Little Rock after back-and-forth first three periods
CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas turned a close game into a 55-42 win by controlling the final quarter Saturday afternoon in the Governor’s I-40 Showdown at the Farris Center.
The win improved the Sugar Bears to 5-2 on the season and a perfect 4-0 at home. Jade Upshaw and Kinley Fisher scored 18 points each, Leah Mafua added 11, and UCA used a fourth-quarter jolt to outscore the Trojans by 15 in the second half.
Fisher buoyed the offense early, scoring seven points in the opening frame to help the Sugar Bears open up a 10-6 lead midway through the first. But the defensive length of the Trojans helped the visitors get back into it, and a late pair of free throws put the Trojans up 12-10 at the first buzzer.
The teams continued to trade buckets in the second, with neither side able to build a five-point lead for most of the quarter. UCA struggled to actually take a lead, but defended well enough to keep the game close.
Little Rock eventually took a six-point lead with just over a minute to go in the half, but a 4-0 run at the free throw line closed the gap to a 23-21 halftime score. Fisher had ten points before the end of the half, but nine Sugar Bear turnovers allowed Little Rock to hold a slight advantage.
UCA quickly set out to whittle the lead down to start the third quarter, taking a lead that would never be relinquished with 6:32 on the clock. But the Trojans didn’t go quietly, keeping the game within two possessions the rest of the quarter.
Sugar Bears Cheyenne Kemp against Little Rock. / Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
Upshaw led the team with seven points in the frame, a big part of the Sugar Bears’ 60 percent shooting in the third to gain an advantage. Also in the quarter, Randrea Wright hit a pair of free throws, helping to steady her team. In doing so, she moved into sole possession of ninth place on the Sugar Bears’ Division I scoring chart, passing Kamry Orr’s 893 points.
Little Rock fought back to start the fourth quarter, tying the game on a second-chance bucket midway through the fourth, leveling the score at 40-40. Upshaw and Fisher took over the middle of the quarter, though, scoring the next eight points for UCA to help the home team build a six-point lead.
But just as Little Rock started battling to get back into it, Mafua put the final stamp on the game, blocking back-to-back shots on the defensive end, then scoring five points of her own, creating a seven-point swing for UCA that pushed the lead to double-figures for the first time all night.
The Sugar Bears are back on the road until the new year, playing down at Northwestern State for the next one. Tip-off in Natchitoches, Louisiana is set for 1 p.m. on December 14.
Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.
