BAUDOIN LEADS WAY AS SUGAR BEARS PULL AWAY FROM COLONELS IN SECOND HALF

[Seminole Indian]

CONWAY — Central Arkansas and Nicholls have met twice this season, and in both meetings the Colonels have given the Sugar Bears fits.

For a half.

Just as they did last month in Thibodaux, the Sugar Bears put together a big second half on Saturday to pull away after a tight first half, outscoring Nicholls 37-18 over the final 20 minutes for a 60-42 victory in the Farris Center to complete the season sweep of the Colonels.

After Nicholls (12-13, 7-7 Southland) took the lead with a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the second quarter to go up 24-23 at the break, the Sugar Bears (18-7, 11-3) answered in the third quarter with a 10-0 run over a 2:42 span to take control they would not relinquish.

Trailing by one, senior Taylor Baudoin scored the game's next four points – en route to a game-high 29, one off her career high of 30 set Wednesday at McNeese – and 3-pointers from Kamry Orr and Antonia Bozic put the Sugar Bears up 39-30 midway through the period.

Leading by six heading into the fourth, the Sugar Bears held the Colonels to a single field goal over the next 6:41, going on a 14-3 run as the lead ballooned to 17. After back-to-back scores by Nicholls cut the lead to 13, the Sugar Bears kept the Colonels off the board over the final three minutes and closed it out with the last  five points to set the final margin, having nearly tripled Nicholls in the final frame – outscoring the Colonels 19-7.

Leading the way was Baudoin, who scored 29 points on 13-of-17 shooting (76.5 percent) to wrap up a week in which she averaged 29.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. She matched the Colonels in the second half, scoring 18 on 11 shots while Nicholls needed twice the attempts to reach that total.

Orr, who had averaged just 5.3 points over the last six games, bounced back with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal while playing 38 minutes – her most since the last meeting against the Colonels, when she poured in a career-best 32 points.

Kierra Jordan had a game-high 13 rebounds, with guards Orr and Taylor Sells combining for 13 between them as Orr grabbed 8 and Sells 5, leading the Sugar Bears to outbound the Colonels by 13 including a 10-5 edge in offensive rebounds – leading to a 14-2 advantage in 2nd-chance points.

Orr and Sells each led Central Arkansas with 4 assists as the Sugar Bears logged 16 on their 24 field goals. Sells also added three steals, sharing the team lead with Maddie Goodner who also had three in 16 minutes.

The Sugar Bears shot 52.2 percent from the field, their highest since shooting 54 percent in a win against North Dakota State on Dec. 21. They held the Colonels to 35.6 percent – including just 27.3 percent in the 2nd half – while keeping Nicholls 23 points below their season scoring average.

The win was the Sugar Bears' fifth straight over the Colonels. improving their record in the series to 16-7.

The Sugar Bears now turn their attention to Stephen F. Austin, which sits 2nd in the Southland standings at 13-1, a half game behind Lamar. The Sugar Bears find themselves chasing the Cardinals and Ladyjacks for one of the top two spots – and thus earning a double bye – in next month's Southland Conference tournament. At third in the league race, the Sugar Bears have a two-game cushion on Abilene Christian with four games left, and are three games up in the loss column on New Orleans and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a top-four seed and at least one bye in the tournament.

The Ladyjacks, who defeated the Sugar Bears 59-46 last month in Nacodgoches, visit the Farris Center on Wednesday, with tip set for 7:00pm.

NOTES
• In the two meetings between the Sugar Bears and Colonels this season, the Sugar Bears won the second halves by a combined count of 81-41.
• With her 29 points, Baudoin sits at 1,051 for her career – putting her 23rd overall in program history and 6th in the program's Division I era, just 9 from passing Micah Rice for 5th.
• The Sugar Bears improve to 38-4 in the Farris Center since 2015, and 23-4 in February games over the past three seasons

QUOTES
Head Coach Sandra Rushing
"We beat a very good basketball team tonight. We've got a lot of film to watch and a lot of things to take care of, but I'm really happy with this win."

"I looked at (Baudoin) at halftime and told her and KJ that they have to put the team on their backs and let's go. We've got goals and things we're looking toward."

"I thought Kamry Orr did a good job of managing the offense and getting us into it. We've been working on her being more aggressive and under control, and I thought she had a good day. Taylor Sells settled down and went in and did a good job for us. The sad thing is that some people want to look at how many points you're scoring – somebody has to do the dirty work, and she's doing the dirty work for us. Right now her role isn't scoring – and she's getting confused on some things, and we have to remind her of her role because she's a heck of a basketball player. She's such a leaper and a jumper – she's the smallest person on the floor and she goes out and gets a huge rebound for us when we need it. I thought Kam and Sells worked really, really well together tonight. And Maddie Goodner – she had three steals – she has long arms and is always in the right spots. She reads the ball. She's not really quick, but her hands are quick."

http://www.ucasports.com/news/2018/2/17/womens-basketball-baudoin-leads-way-as-sugar-bears-pull-away-from-colonels-in-second-half.aspx