Feb 26th, 2007 05:41AM
by:

By JOSH GOFF
UCA SID ASSISTANT

CONWAY— When drawing up plans for an ideal Senior Night, you hope for a nice presentation in front of the seniors' parents, family and friends. You hope for a decisive victory, allowing for that lifelong memory of the seniors having one final, deliberate walk to the bench to a raucous ovation from the crowd. And, you hope the outgoing players individually put on one last good showing — leaving themselves and the fans with pleasant parting memories.

All that got accomplished Saturday night in the Farris Center, as the University of Central Arkansas Sugar Bears (13-14, 7-8 SLC) defeated the Nicholls State Lady Colonels (6-19, 4-10) 71-62 for their third consecutive win, and sent seniors Renita Dobbins, Shannon Oden and Caronica Randle out in their final home game the way they came in four years ago – winners.

"This is how you want it to happen," said UCA head coach Checola Seals-Horton. "The kids did a great job tonight. The seniors came out on fire. Caronica and Shannon were playing great and Renita gave you some razzle dazzle moves that were just awesome.  It was good to be able to get them out late and be able to finish the game the way they wanted to."

The Sugar Bears' seniors came out of the gates playing as though they absolutely refused to have their Senior Night spoiled – with Randle scoring 17 of her game-high 28 points and grabbing eight rebounds, Oden scoring all 12 of her points, and Dobbins scoring eight points and dishing out six assists as UCA shot 51.4 percent and took a commanding 47-30 lead into halftime
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The Lady Colonels wouldn't go away easily, as they started the second half with a 15-4 run to cut the lead to six, 51-45, with 13:19 to go.

Then, the Sugar Bears got a much-needed spark from an unexpected source on Senior Night – freshman Meaghen Kelleybrew.

Over the next 3:58, Kelleybrew nearly single-handedly shut down and put away the Lady Colonels – blocking four shots and knocking down two critical 3-pointers to push UCA's lead back to 12.

"We put Meaghen in the lineup and she went on a blockfest," Seals-Horton said. "That was huge, because it changed the whole momentum of the game. She stepped out and hit those huge 3s, and really gave us a spark when we needed it. Everybody else was getting a little tight and things weren't falling for us or going our way. She stepped up and gave us a huge lift."

NSU cut it to eight with 5:42 again, but would get no closer as Kelleybrew rebuffed two more shots – giving her six blocks for the game.

It was the first time since 2001 that a Sugar Bear had more than five. Dobbins knocked down a pair of free throws and Randle hit a layup to put
UCA's lead back to 12 with 3:00 to go, and the Sugar Bears coasted from that point – pulling the seniors in the last minute to soak in their final round of cheers from the home crowd.

"We wanted to go out with a win," said Randle, who scored 28 for the third time this season and pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds. "A loss would've hurt bad, but with a win it's great. It didn't matter if it was by one point. We had a big lead but let them back in it, so we had to step up and play better defense and for me, stop fouling. I was sitting on the bench with 11 minutes to play with four fouls, begging Coach to put me back in, and she said no. I learned my lesson sitting over there."

In her final weekend in the Farris Center, Randle averaged 24 points, 9 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 53.1 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the line.

Oden, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on 3-pointers in her final homestand, finished with 12 points – one off her career high of 13 at Harding on Jan. 16, 2006.

"I'm so upset," she said. "I airballed a shot in the corner in the second half that could've broke my career record – but oh well. It feels good to get that win. I was starting to think we were going to let it slip away, but we came out on top. I wish we could've won by 20, but I'll take nine any day."

Dobbins scored 11 points and had seven afor nine and 11, ending her career at the Farris Center in prime fashion.

"Renita came in and she always does what she's gotta do, whether it's scoring or assists," Randle said. "It was a great senior night for us. Shannon stepped up and hit some big baskets for us. You couldn't ask for a better way to go out than with a win."

The win puts the Sugar Bears in second place in the SLC East Division, trailing only Southeastern Louisiana (9-5). The Sugar Bears finish up their season and the careers of Dobbins, Oden and Randle Saturday in Natchitoches, La., when they take on the Northwestern State Demons at 6 p.m. in what could ultimately decide second place in the league. The Demons sit at 6-9, and with one win already over the Sugar Bears, would own a season sweep and the tiebreaker over UCA. But the three UCA seniors have no plans of that coming into play.

"We're on such a good streak," said Oden. "We played so good Thursday night and again tonight. We're going to get to .500."

"We've got one more," Seals-Horton said. "We know we're one game away from .500 and second place in the league. But Northwestern is sitting there on their Senior Night, and we know it's going to be a tough game. But we're going to try to go down there and take care of business."