Ala. A&M takes down UCA

ASUN WOMEN ALABAMA A&M 53, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 51

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas women’s basketball team ended the nonconference portion of its schedule on a sour note Thursday as it fell to Alabama A&M 53-51 at the Farris Center.

With 5:42 left in the third quarter, UCA (5-6) took its first lead since Kierra Pirm made it 2-0 to start the game.

The Sugar Bears held that lead until there were 24 seconds remaining when Bulldogs guard Toni Grace’s layup made it 52-51.

UCA held the lead for 14:42 of the game — all coming in the second half. But as the fourth quarter wound down, UCA missed two shots and turned the ball over with three seconds remaining.

It was the Sugar Bears’ final nonconference game before the beginning of ASUN play. It also moved UCA to 0-3 versus Southwestern Athletic Conference teams this season, having previously lost to Alcorn State and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff earlier.

“[ This loss] matters to me,” UCA Coach Sandra Rushing said. “Because we’ve got to have momentum going into [Monday’s game against Jacksonville State]. They are the same type of team. We’ve got to bow up and have a bit more of a chip on our shoulder.”

Parris Atkins, a freshman from Bryant, led the Sugar Bears with a career-high 16 points. It was her seventh game of the past eight in which she finished in double figures. But with UCA trailing 52-51, her errant pass gave Alabama A&M the ball with 3.4 seconds left.

“Parris, I’ve got to sit down with her. She’s such a tremendous player, and she’s got to take that on in,” Rushing said. “We can’t pass that. It’s too crucial.”

The third quarter was key to UCA building a lead late into the game. The Sugar Bears made 4 of 9 shots from the field, 1 of 2 three-pointers and 8 of 10 from the free throw line in the quarter.

Atkins was at the heart of that for UCA, scoring nine points on 2-of-4 shooting and five made free throws.

UCA’s lead grew to 51-42 with 3: 25 remaining. After that, the Sugar Bears were 0 for 3 from the field as Alabama A&M (2-8) made its comeback.

“We stopped attacking in the second half,” Rushing said. “We should not have lost this ballgame. Bottom line, it’s on me.”

UCA entered having been outscored ( 162-126) in the fourth quarter more than any other in its previous 10 games.

In the fourth quarter, Alabama A& M made 4 of 5 shots from the field, 5 of 6 free throws and hit both of its three-point attempts.

Grace led the Bulldogs with 19 points, followed by Amiah Simmons with 12 and Amani Free with nine. Free, Simmons and Taylor Smith combined to make five three-pointers.

Alabama A& M junior center Jayla Cody made her return to Conway after transferring from UCA during the offseason. She finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block.

For the game, UCA shot 36% from the field, 12.5% from behind the arc and made 14 of 18 free throws.

“Our offense is not there yet,” Rushing said. “I thought we played extremely hard, but then we got stagnant and ran out of gas.”