CONWAY — In its first home game in more than two weeks, Central Arkansas turned in its worst shooting performance of the season.
The Sugar Bears shot 29.4 percent from the field (20 of 68), falling to Belmont 78-73 Saturday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 320 at the Farris Center.
“It wasn’t there,” UCA Coach Matt Daniel said of his team’s performance. “We waited until the last timeout to get our energy going, to figure out if it was going to be a ballgame or not. We’re going to work very hard to get that corrected tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.”
UCA (2-4) trailed 70-63 with 1:05 left, but pulled within 71-68 on Sidney Stewart’s three-pointer and two free throws from Micah Rice. After Belmont’s Molly Ernst hit two free throws, Rice knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing to cut the leadto 73-71 with 29.5 seconds remaining.
But Belmont (2-3) sealed the game at the free-throw line, making 5 of 6 in the final 28.1 seconds. The Bruins finished 30 of 37 from the free-throw line.
“That’s what we really hang our hat on,” first-year Belmont Coach Brittney Ezell said. “We’re a grind it out kind of team. If games get into the 80s and 90s, we’re really in trouble. We’re not built for that. Had UCA been hotter from the floor, we would have been in trouble.”
Despite UCA’s attempt at a comeback in the final two minutes, the first 38 minutes were too much to ignore for Daniel.
“We kind of made it a game there,” Daniel said. “But I’m not interested in getting beat at home anymore.”
Sophomore forward Megan Herbert led UCA with 16 points and 16 rebounds. It was her 31st career double-double and fifth of the season.
Junior guard Destinee Rogers scored 15 points. Stewart, a junior guard, had 12 points, including 3 three-pointers, and sophomore guard Micah Rice added 10 points and three assists.
Senior guard Shaunda Strayhorn led Belmont with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Ernst had 18 points, including four three-pointers, and junior center HaleyNelson had 17 points and eight rebounds coming off the bench for Belmont, which shot 47.7 percent (21 of 44) from the field.
UCA trailed 50-38 with 12:00 left and Daniel inserted three of his reserves - Courtney Duever, Brittney Gowans and Porsha Donnerson - into the game to try to lift the Sugar Bears’ energy level. After Destinee Rogers cut the lead to 55-45 with a three-pointer, Daniel put his starters back in with 7:56 left.
Stewart’s three-pointer and Herbert’s putback pulled UCA within 63-57 with 2:02 remaining, before Daniel used his final timeout.
UCA, which trailed 34-28 at halftime, shot 25 percent (9 of 36) from the field in the first half.
The Sugar Bears led 21-17 with 7:44 left in the first half. But Belmont went on a 11-0 run to take a 28-21 lead.
Strayhorn and Cacy Burtnett each hit threes and Nelson’s basket put the Bruins on top 25-21. Ernst hit a three-pointer to cap the run and Daniel called a timeout with 4:11 remaining.
Herbert ended the run with a three-pointer with 3:55 left in the half, which was also UCA’s first field goal since the 8:15 mark.
UCA has lost four of their past five, dating to a 87-76 setback at Alabama on Nov. 14. The Sugar Bears host Lipscomb on Monday before taking a week off.
“We’re going to work on our defense and prepare for Lipscomb,” Daniel said. “We’ll see if we can get this thing turned around.” SUN BELT MEN
ARKANSAS STATE 56, SE MISSOURI STATE 50
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Arkansas State picked up its first victory of the season, beating Southeast Missouri State at the Show Me Center.
ASU (1-5) hit 6 of 6 from the freethrow line in the final 1:30 to improve to 1-5 on the season.
Junior forward Martavius Adams led the Red Wolves with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Adams was also 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
ASU outrebounded Southeast Missouri State (0-6) 38-34. The Red Wolves shot 35.3 percent (18 of 51) from the field and 18 of 28 (64 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Red Wolves enjoyed their largest halftime lead of the season with a 28-18 advantage at the break.
Sophomore guard Trey Finn scored ASU’s first six points of the second half. Finn finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Senior guard Rashad Allison had 8 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. He went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
SUN BELT WOMEN
UALR 51, MONTANA STATE 48
SEATTLE - Asriel Rolfe scored 13 points and Janette Merriex had a careerhigh 11 points and eight rebounds to lead UALR to a victory over Montana State in the Seattle University Thanksgiving Tournament.
Marian Kursh had 14 rebounds for the Trojans (3-2), who led 29-21 at halftime.
Consecutive layups by Montana State cut the lead to 47-46 with 2:06 left. Hannah Fohne’s layup helped extend UALR’s lead to 49-46. With seven seconds left, Fohne sealed the victory for the Trojans with two free throws.
Senior Chastity Reed, a preseason All-American candidate and Wooden Award candidate, did not play, per coach’s decision.
ARKANSAS STATE 49, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 37
DALLAS - Quinishia McDowell had 14 points and five steals, Shay Scott added 10 points and eight rebounds, and Arkansas State beat Georgia Southern in the consolation game of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Tournament.
The Red Wolves (5-3) never trailed in the game and led 28-15 at halftime.
Krista Tate led Georgia Southern (1-5) with 15 points.
Sports, Pages 32 on 11/28/2010