SUGAR BEARS SHUT DOWN SIUE FOR FIRST D-I NATIONAL POSTSEASON WIN

[Seminole Indian]

CONWAY — Central Arkansas made history on Thursday as the Sugar Bears notched the first national postseason tournament victory in the program's Division I era, defeating SIU Edwardsville 51-39 in the opening round of the Women's Basketball Invitational in the Farris Center.

The Sugar Bears (23-9) did it in typical Sandra Rushing team fashion, using suffocating defense to hold the Cougars (17-15) to their lowest point total of the season – their previous low being 47 – and 26 points below their season scoring average.

It marks the first victory in five tries for the Sugar Bears in Division I national postseason tournaments, having come up short in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons at 3rd-seeded Texas and Louisville, and falling to eventual tournament champions UAB in the 2011 WBI and Oklahoma State in the 2012 WNIT.

With the win, the Sugar Bears advance to the WBI quarterfinals, where they will host Weber State at 5:30pm on Monday in the first half of a postseason doubleheader in the Farris Center, with the Central Arkansas men's team hosting Jacksonville State at 7:30 in the quarterfinals of the CBI.

The historic win looked in doubt early on as SIUE ran out to a quick 10-2 lead less than three minutes in, but after a Central Arkansas timeout the Sugar Bears would go on to outscore the Cougars 30-8 over the final 17:19 to build a 32-18 advantage at the half.

The Cougars would not go quietly, however, as they outscored the Sugar Bears 14-5 in the third quarter to cut the Central Arkansas lead to five headed into the fourth quarter. The Cougars then got the final period going with back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to one at 37-36 with 8:50 remaining.

Those would be the final field goals the Cougars would hit.

Over the remainder of the game, SIUE got just three free throws and the Sugar Bears pulled away by finishing on a 14-3 run, holding the Cougars to a single point over the final 6:05.

With the lead at one, the Sugar Bears got some breathing room with a pair of free throws from Taylor Sells and an Antonija Bozic 3-pointer to push it back out to six. After two SIUE free throws made it a four-point game, the Sugar Bears held the Cougars scoreless for more than 4:30 as they built the lead back to 10, pushing it to double digits on a Sells jumper with 1:45 remaining. After the Cougars' final free throw, a layup by Sells and a Taylor Baudoin free throw closed it out as the Sugar Bears advance to Monday's quarterfinals to continue their Postseason Run presented by First Security Bank.

Sells, who came in averaging just 4.9 points per game, led the Sugar Bears in scoring for the second consecutive game – getting 12 on the heels of a career-high 17 in last Saturday's loss to Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference tournament.

Baudoin had 11 points and 8 rebounds for the Sugar Bears, while Bozic knocked down three 3-pointers to finish with 9 points. Kierra Jordan led the team with 9 rebounds, also getting 6 points with an assist, block and steal. Kamry Orr added 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Mekaylan Hicks had 3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Angel Williams added 3 points, 2 assists and a rebound in 15 minutes. Maddie Goodner tied Orr for the team lead in steals with 3 in 23 minutes.

The Sugar Bears held SIUE's all-OVC guard tandem of Lauren White and Donshel Beck – who came in averaging a combined 27.2 points per game – to a total of 12, with White getting 7 and Beck 5 on combined 5-of-16 shooting. Sydney Bauman paced SIUE with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

With the victory, the Sugar Bears improve to 39-5 (.886) on their home floor and 77-18 overall (.811) over the last three seasons. They'll look to improve on those numbers on Monday as they meet Weber State for the first time, with a trip to the WBI semifinals on March 23 or 24 against Nevada or Fresno State at stake.

QUOTES
Head Coach Sandra Rushing
"I'm really happy and proud for these seniors. They've done something nobody's ever done here. So proud of KJ, Tay B and Angel – this says a lot for them. My coaching staff did a tremendous job of preparing our players, and I thought we had more effort, more energy and more heart tonight. Now we're living for Monday."

"I thought we came out the first couple minutes scared and nervous, but I thought we really played hard. We got a little tight, playing not to lose, and I didn't like our energy. I thought we focused once we settled down, and I'm just so happy for this team and this program. This really means a lot."

"I told the team I thought SIUE was more physical than us, and we can't worry about calls – stay focused, your mind can't shut down. We only scored five in the third quarter, but I don't care. We won the basketball game and that's all that matters."

"[Taylor Sells] had to step up. People are backing off her, and she's very capable. She's such a tremendous athlete, when she's going full speed and pulls up and pops, she's deadly. And we got good minutes from Maddie Goodner tonight. She had three steals – she didn't score for us, but she had an outstanding defensive game. MK gave us some very valuable minutes."

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