SUGAR BEARS' RUN IN KATY ENDS IN SEMIFINALS WITH LOSS TO SFA

[Seminole Indian]

KATY, Texas — For the first time since 2015, Central Arkansas will leave Katy without a championship.

After claiming the Southland Conference Tournament championship in each of the last two seasons and winning five in a row at the league tournament, the Sugar Bears' run finally came to an end on Saturday as they fell 70-60 to 2nd-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the tournament semifinals.

The Sugar Bears (22-9) had outscored their opponents by 165 points in the second half this season, but on Saturday it was an uncharacteristic second-half slump that did in the defending champs as SFA (25-5) outscored Central Arkansas 38-26 over the final two quarters to pull away for their third win over the Sugar Bears this season.

After falling behind by as many as 10 in the first quarter, the Sugar Bears would turn things around with a 23-5 run to lead by as much as eight in the second quarter, but the 'Jacks closed the half on a 6-0 run to draw within two at 34-32 at the break.

The Sugar Bears pushed their advantage back to eight midway through the third quarter, but SFA would reverse its fortunes with a 14-2 run to take a 50-46 lead into the final quarter.

After the Sugar Bears had cut it to two just under four minutes into the quarter, the 'Jacks would score nine straight over the next two minutes to extend their lead to 11 with 4:10 to play and the Sugar Bears would never recover, getting no closer than seven down the stretch.

For the game, the Sugar Bears made more field goals (25) than the 'Jacks (21), shooting a higher percentage (44.6 to 42.9 percent); outrebounded SFA 36-29; and had a 32-18 advantage on points in the paint.

Where SFA did its damage was at the 3-point line, where the 'Jacks went 7 of 16 (43.8 percent), while the Sugar Bears were 3 of 17 (17.6 percent); and at the free throw line – where SFA enjoyed 20 more attempts, going 21-of-29 (72.4 percent) to the Sugar Bears' 7-of-9 (77..

SFA also committed just eight turnovers while the Sugar Bears committed 14, which led to 17 Ladyjack points.

The Sugar Bears got a career-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting from sophomore guard Taylor Sells, who came in having not scored more than six since getting 15 at Texas A&M on Dec. 9, having shot just 39.3 percent from the floor this season.

Taylor Baudoin, who had a double-double in Friday's win over Abilene Christian, came just short of repeating that feat on Saturday as she had 10 points and 9 rebounds to go with a team-high 5 assists in 39 minutes. Kierra Jordan had 16 points and 7 rebounds, making 6 of her 9 shot attempts and 4-of-5 at the free throw line.Kamry Orr added 9 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Sugar Bears.

With the loss the Sugar Bears drop to 7-6 all-time at the Southland tournament, having qualified for the eight-team event in all eight of their seasons eligible for Division I postseason play. They are now 2-2 at the tournament against SFA – which has won the league tournament a record 15 times.

The fate of the Sugar Bears' season is still to be determined, as they could potentially receive a bid to a national postseason tournament. If it is over, the Sugar Bears conclude the year with their third consecutive season with at least 22 wins, averaging over 25 per season during that span, and their 6th 20-win season in the last nine – leaving them as the winningest program in the Southland during that time.

QUOTES
Head Coach Sandra Rushing
"I'm disappointed in the loss – I'm very proud of these seniors, we just couldn't get it done. We wanted to be playing Sunday for a championship, but you can't have the mistakes we had today. We missed assignments and gave up too many 3-pointers. SFA just came out and wanted it more, and they're a better basketball team  – that's obvious, they beat us three times this year. And they wanted it more."

"There's a play they run every time we play them and we have absolutely gone over it for the last three years and we still get caught on it – and as a head coach, I don't know what else to do. We tried every way and either run over the screen or they score. We do know what they run  – we're just not executing the plan. I wish them well – they're very well coached. I don't know what else to say – I'm disappointed in the loss."

"You've got to have that in your gut – got to want it more than the other team. And we had them where we wanted them, but we absolutely let up and made mental mistakes. This time of year it's the details – details help you win championships, and that's what SFA did tonight -  took care of the details."

"[SFA has] been really good lately in 3rd quarter and we knew that ... Their intensity level, I think they really really picked it up and started pushing the ball and made us take shots we didn't want to take. We haven't been a good offensive team –  we have young point guard and I love her and she's a tremendous athlete – and we're learning the game, spending a lot of time together learning the gaps. The future looks good, but sure wish we had this one."

http://www.ucasports.com/news/2018/3/10/womens-basketball-sugar-bears-run-in-katy-ends-in-semifinals-with-loss-to-sfa.aspx