Taylor Sets Central Arkansas Three-Point Record in Win
Central Arkansas 119, Ecclesia College 59
CONWAY, Ark. - The Central Arkansas women's basketball team broke out of a 13-game slump in a big way on Wednesday, rolling to a 119-59 victory over Ecclesia College in front of 1,036 fans at the Farris Center in the Sugar Bears' home opener.
UCA (1-2) led just 26-20 midway through the first half, but went on a 42-5 run over the next 13 minutes to put the game out of reach for Ecclesia (1-6). It was the first 100-point game for the Sugar Bears since 2005, and the fourth highest single-game total in program history.
The 60-point margin was the most for UCA since a 116-25 drubbing of Puerto Rico-Cayey in 2003.
"What's funny about it is we feel like it was a good win but not necessarily a great effort," said UCA head coach Matt Daniel. "In the locker room after the game, we walk in and they're not overly joyed because we feel like we can get better effort and do a lot of things better."
One thing that couldn't have been much better was the shooting of freshman guard Westin Taylor, who set a school record with 10 3-pointers made - all in the second half, when she was 10-for-12.
"That first half, I struggled," said Taylor, who finished with a game-high 38 points despite an 0-for-6 first half. "Coach Daniel has been chewing me all week telling me 'keep shooting, keep shooting - that's what I'm paying you for' and in the second half we came out and they got me trailing once and I hit it and knew then that I got it back."
She finished 14-of-23 overall and had the highest single-game output for a UCA player since Carone Harris had 44 against Delta State in 2002.
"All of the guards did a great job of trying to get me the ball, "said Taylor, who hit as many as 13 3s in a game in her high school career. "And I had a lot of people set a lot of awesome screens for me. I shot 'em, but they got it to me and got me open."
Taylor's outburst came after starting the season just 3-for-13 in the first two games combined, but came as no surprise to Daniel.
"I was never worried about her shot," he said. "I haven't talked to her about it, I just told her to keep shooting. A shooter can shoot it, and she's got one of the purest strokes in the country - no question about it. I'll put hers up against anybody on any level.
She gets settled in, gets a new school record and basically did it in a half. That says a lot about her ability."
Freshman forward Megan Herbert had her third consecutive double-double, going for 31 points and 17 rebounds - both the best of her young career. Freshman forward Desiree' Rogers also had her first career double-double, putting up 19 points and 13 rebounds in 19 minutes.
"Megan Herbert continues to put up double-doubles, but she'll be the first to tell you she needs to get better," Daniel said.
"Desiree' Rogers stepped up, and I think her getting 19 points and 13 rebounds in just 19 minutes shows she had a pretty productive night."
Freshman guard Britney Gowans had 10 points, six rebounds, a game-high six steals and five assists. Freshman guard Micah Rice also added 10 points to go with a game-high six assists, five rebounds and four steals. In all, the Sugar Bears had 20 steals and forced 33 turnovers - the first time they'd done either since 2006 in a win over Philander Smith. UCA also held a 60-35 rebound advantage.
The Sugar Bears' next test promises to be more difficult, as Jackson State comes to the Farris Center on Monday. Last season JSU defeated UCA 75-58 in Mississippi.
"It was good for us to get a win tonight, but now our focus has to shift to Jackson State," Daniel said. "We owe them one. We went on the road there last year and had a rough night. We've got to do a better job on Monday."
New Orleans 60, Nicholls 50
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Nicholls kept it close for the majority of the game by playing stout defense, but New Orleans' bench put forth 24 points to go along with 38 in the paint to defeat the Colonels, 60-50, on Wednesday night in the Lakefront Arena.
"Hats off to UNO, they really grinded it out and when we made mistakes, they took advantage," said Head Coach DoBee Plaisance. "I felt good with what I saw from our team in the first game, we are just going to have to play a full 40 minutes."
Leading the Colonels was junior guard Ricshanda Bickham with 15 points, while sophomore forward Jasmine Hoskins posted her third career double-double in the loss with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Colonels (0-1) out rebounded the Lady Privateers (2-0), 41-38, and committed less turnovers with 23 to 31.
Nicholls led by as many as four - 20-16 - in the first half with 2:55 left, however, New Orleans went on a 9-2 run over the final two and half minutes to grab a 25-22 halftime lead. Aiding the Colonels' lead in the first half was their defense with 17 forced turnovers that led to 13 points.
Bickham led the Colonels at the midway point with 10 points in her debut on the Division I level, while also registering four of Nicholls eight first half steals. In fact, Bickham went on a tear in the first half, scoring eight straight points to assist the Colonels in their early lead.
"We caused some havoc there in the first half, but as the game went on I think that we got a little fatigued. UNO took full advantage and climbed back into the game at half," said Plaisance about the first half.
The Lady Privateers kept their momentum in the second half, increasing their lead to 10-plus early on and extending it to as many as 14 points twice with less than two minutes left. New Orleans outscored Nicholls 35-28 in the second half to get win.
For the game, the Colonels shot 30.8 percent (20-of-65) from the floor to the Lady Privateers 47.1 percent (24-of-51). Neither team did much from the three-point line, combining for a 4-for-21 showing.
Nicholls will return home on Friday to host Louisiana Tech (1-0) in Stopher Gym, while New Orleans will host Southern Methodist on Saturday.