UCA pushes past Southeastern, 63-47

CONWAY, Ark. – A second quarter that saw Southeastern Louisiana held without a field goal was too much for the Lady Lions to overcome in a 63-47 loss to Central Arkansas in Southland Conference women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon in the Farris Center.

Southeastern (1-12, 0-2 Southland) dropped their seventh straight contest. The two-defending Southland tournament champion Sugar Bears (9-4, 2-0 Southland)

The Lady Lions and Sugar Bears battled in a back-and-forth first quarter that featured three ties and two lead changes. The opening quarter ended with UCA holding an 18-17 lead.

UCA ratcheted up the defensive effort in the second quarter and held SLU to a pair of free throws by freshman forward Caitlyn Williams in the quarter. The Sugar Bears outscored Southeastern, 13-2, in the second period to go into halftime with a 31-19 advantage.

Southeastern pulled as close as they would in the second half when a pair of threes by senior guard Taylin Underwood cut the UCA lead to 43-32 with 1:51 left in the third quarter.

However, UCA finished the third quarter with a 7-0 run, as a bucket by senior forward Taylor Baudoin put the Sugar Bears ahead, 50-32, heading into the final quarter. Southeastern would get no closer than 16 in the final 10 minutes.

Underwood led SLU with 15 points in Sunday’s loss. The Livingston, Louisiana native now has 1,279 career points in the green and gold, moving past former Lady Lion great and current assistant coach Aja Gibson (1,278 career points) into a tie for eighth place with former Lady Lion Kristy Carlin for eighth place on the school’s career scoring list.

Underwood was joined in double figures by junior forward Jyar Francis, who netted 14 points. Caitlyn Williams chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds for the Lady Lions.

Senior forward Kierra Jordan led the Sugar Bears with a double-double effort, finishing with game-high totals of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Kamry Orr added 19 points for Central Arkansas.

SLU will close out its road swing next Saturday. The Lady Lions will travel to Abilene Christian for a 2 p.m. league contest. The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.

Southeastern Louisiana 47 (1-12, 0-2 SLC)
Francis 5-13 1-2 14, C. Williams 3-10 2-2 8, Underwood 4-11 5-10 15, Morrison 0-3 0-0 0, Brailey 0-2 0-0 0, K. Williams 1-3 1-2 3, Dawsey 0-0 0-0 0, Dugas 3-6 0-0 7, Scholvin 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 16-49 9-16 47.
Central Arkansas 63 (9-4, 2-0 SLC)
Baudoin 4-9, 1-2 9, Jordan 9-14 2-5 20, Orr 7-8 4-6 19, Goodner 1-3 0-1 3, Williams 1-6 0-0 3, Sells 1-5 2-4 4, Bozic 1-3 0-0 3, Hicks 0-2 0-0 0, Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Langhi 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-52 9-18 63.
End of 1st Quarter – UCA 18, SLU 17. Halftime – UCA 31, SLU 19. End of 3rd Quarter – UCA 50, SLU 32. 3-point goals – SLU 6-16 (Francis 3-7, Underwood 2-6, Dugas 1-2, C. Williams 0-1), UCA 4-10 (Goodner 1-3, Bozic 1-3, Williams 1-2, Orr 1-1, Sells 0-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – None. Rebounds – SLU 32 (C. Williams 8), UCA 34 (Jordan 10). Assists – SLU 10 (Morrison, Brailey 3), UCA 13 (Four with 3). Total Fouls – SLU 20, UCA 16. A – 512.