ABILENE – A fourth-quarter rally by Central Arkansas Thursday afternoon propelled the eighth-seeded Sugar Bears past fifth-seeded Sam Houston State, 76-71, and into the quarterfinals where they'll meet Abilene Christian for the second-consecutive year at the Southland Conference Tournament hosted by the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
The third meeting of the season and 11th all-time between UCA and ACU tips off Friday at 11 a.m. and will air on both
ESPN+ and
98.1 FM – The Ticket.
Last year's Wildcats lost all three meetings to the Sugar Bears, including last March's postseason game (54-41) after winning their first-round contest against New Orleans (88-66). But this time around ACU has defeated Central Arkansas both at home (77-70) and on the road (67-65), and a completion of the trifecta will advance the Wildcats into their first conference semifinal vs. top-seeded Lamar.
On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Stephen F. Austin awaits the winner of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Nicholls.
ACU head coach
Julie Goodenough met with Abilene media earlier in the week to discuss the tournament, and said her team is in a postseason mentality of survive and advance.
"Teams that go to Katy with the most confidence, which are on the same page and which share the same goals will be the most successful," said the seven-year head coach who has guided her club to five postseason appearances. "It doesn't matter how we did earlier in the season vs. UCA (or Sam Houston State). We have to focus on our own things and bring our best game."
Despite coming into the tournament with 11 regular season wins, the Sugar Bears are widely regarded as one of the Southland's best defensive teams. They finished the year ranked second with 58.6 points allowed per game and third with a .296 three-point field goal defense, and they're one of the best teams at holding onto the ball with 16.0 turnovers per game (+2.04 turnover margin).
"We're going to see man-to-man pressure in that first game," said Goodenough, "and we know that UCA is going to try and wear us down in the half court. We half to take care of the ball, be shot ready, and get those shots up when we can."
ACU won six of its last seven games to conclude conference play, but no win was bigger in terms of margin of victory than the Wildcats' 102-53 beatdown of Incarnate Word last Saturday at Moody Coliseum. The Wildcats nearly shot better than 60 percent (40-69, .580) for the second time this season, and set a record for most 3-point field goals vs. a D1 opponent with 16. They also outrebounded the Cardinals, 40-29, to remain among the highest ranked NCAA teams in rebound margin at +7.3 (23rd).
ACU additionally is No. 17 in the NCAA with a .461 field-goal percentage and 21st with 16.9 assists per game led by senior
Sara Williamson (141, 4.9 apg) and junior
Breanna Wright (135, 4.7 apg). Junior
Dominique Golightly also finds herself ranked among the national leaders in six categories, including field-goal percentage (.441), points per game (14.2) and several 3-point related groups: attempts (195), makes (63), per game (2.17) and percentage (.323).
Golightly had 15 points in the home win over Incarnate Word on 5-11 shooting and was 3-8 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Wright (23),
Makayla Mabry (13) Williamson (12) and
Lexi Kirgan (12) also attained double figures in scoring to help ACU post the season sweep of UIW.
"We couldn't have scripted a better final game than last Saturday before heading off to Katy," said Goodenough. "It's a huge advantage for us to have received the bye – we wanted the bye – and start in the quarterfinals with fresh energy. Overall, we have nothing to lose and have as good a chance as anyone to win in Katy."
