KATY, Texas -- The University of Central Arkansas women held Stephen F. Austin to less than half its season scoring average and came away as Southland Conference Tournament champions Sunday with a 60-35 victory at the Merrell Center.
The victory sends the Sugar Bears (26-4) to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
They will find out their opponent and destination during the women's selection show at 6 p.m. today on ESPN. UCA lost to Louisville in the opening round of last year's tournament.
The Ladyjacks came into Sunday's tournament championship game averaging 75.0 points per game, but were held to 27.3 percent shooting by the Sugar Bears.
Stephen F. Austin scored three baskets on its first four possessions but made just nine the remainder of the game.
"They've worked hard all year and never lost sight of the goal," said UCA Coach Sandra Rushing, whose team started this season 1-2 in Southland Conference play before winning 17 in a row. "To do it back-to-back says a lot about this group of young ladies.
"We beat a very good basketball team in SFA, and I have a lot of respect for the job that they do there."
The Sugar Bears held conference player of the year Taylor Ross to eight points before the Stephen F. Austin guard fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
The Ladyjacks (25-7) led 5-0, but the Sugar Bears took the lead for good at 11-9 on tournament most valuable player Maggie Proffitt's three-pointer with 4:42 left in the first quarter. A three-point play by Stevi Parker allowed Stephen F. Austin to close within 13-12 at the 1:36 mark, but UCA scored the last five points of the quarter to take an 18-12 advantage.
"I feel like our guards did a great job of shutting down theirs," Proffitt said. "I think we kind of frustrated them and we fed on that."
Proffitt credited teammates Bhrea Griffin, Angel Williams and Taylor Sells with making it difficult on Ross.
"She's a great player, but I feel like we did a great job," Proffitt said.
The Sugar Bears slowly began to distance themselves, eventually leading 27-20 at halftime.
"We just couldn't get any offensive rhythm whatsoever," Stephen F. Austin Coach Mark Kellogg said. "I thought the first few minutes we were actually playing at pace and tempo and liked what we were doing, but the game slowed down dramatically from there."
The Sugar Bears outscored the Ladyjacks 14-2 over the final 8:51 of the third quarter, with Olivia Williams' jumper expanding the lead to 42-24 entering the final quarter. UCA put the game away with five consecutive points from Proffitt to make it 54-31 with 5:31 left in the game.
"It's my first one," said UCA junior center Kierra Jordan, who had 9 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. "We really want to win at least one of these NCAA games."
UCA shared this year's regular-season title with Abilene Christian, which is ineligible to compete for the conference tournament in its transition to NCAA Division I.
Rushing said earning a second NCAA bid was much more difficult the second time.
"You win the first one, and people are hungry," she said. "You wonder if your players are still going to have that hunger in their gut, and they did."
Proffitt was jointed on the all-tournament team by teammate Taylor Baudoin, Stephen F. Austin's Ross and Parker and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Kassie Jones.
Sports on 03/13/2017