Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
UCA defense handcuffs North Florida
CONWAY — When all else fails, the University of Central Arkansas women’s basketball team falls back on its defense.
UCA defeated North Florida 58-44 on Saturday afternoon at the Farris Center, allowing its fewest points to a Division I team this season.
As they’ve done often this season at home, the Sugar Bears (16-6, 8-1 ASUN) jumped out to an early 12-2 lead thanks to a flurry of first-quarter three-pointers. UCA improved to 9-0 at home this season.
“Definitely at home and having the crowd behind us, we just get hyped for it just to make a statement on our home court,” UCA junior forward Bree Stephens said. “We’re undefeated here this year, so we’re trying to keep that going.”
Offense became harder to come by for the Sugar Bears for the rest of the first half. They scored 18 points over the next 15 minutes, including just five points in the final 6 minutes of the first half.
UCA also turned the ball over nine times but, thanks to its defensive performance, took a 30-19 lead into halftime.
“They did a really nice job of defending us,” UCA Coach Tony Kemper said. “In the first half, we just couldn’t get around them. And so credit goes to them [with] how they guarded. I thought their onball defense was as good as we’ve seen consistently, especially in the first 20 minutes. I mean, if we don’t shoot the ball like that, we just don’t score.
“A good thing about this team is we can shoot like that. So if we don’t have the success on points in the paint like we typically do, there’s other ways to score the ball.”
The second half brought much of the same — what UCA lacked in consistent offense it made up for with a strong defensive showing to outscore North Florida in the third and fourth quarters.
“Our energy definitely comes from our defense,” Stephens said. “We have great defenders like Leah [Mafua], Jade [Upshaw], everyone gets a part of it. I know we have parts to improve on, of course, but I think we improve every day.
“This game showed us [if] we focus on defense, we can still get a job done.”
Unlike in Thursday’s win over Jacksonville, Upshaw kept up her strong offensive start to the game by scoring eight points in both halves to lead all scorers with 16 points. Randrea Wright scored six points in each half to finish with 12.
For the second time this season — and the first since Nov. 20 against the University of Arkansas — Stephens reached 10 points. The native of Australia added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in 30 minutes.
Stephens missed much of training camp and nearly three weeks around the new year with a left foot injury. Kemper said what was initially thought to be a stress fracture is actually a bunion. Stephens wears a walking boot off the court to keep it from flaring up.
Since transferring from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College last spring, Stephens has has added an extra dimension to a guard-heavy Sugar Bears roster.
“I’m slowly getting back the confidence of taking my shots, but my team has my back all the time, and I know that, so now it’s just trying to make them consistently,” Stephens said. “I think tonight, and in the last couple games, I’ve definitely taken the correct shots.”