Jan 26th, 2007 03:56AM
by:

By JOSH GOFF
UCA Sports Information

HAMMOND, La. – A week ago, in a win over Lamar, University of Central Arkansas sophomore Mariesha Piggee scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Thursday night, she repeated that effort against Southeastern Louisiana – but this time it wasn’t enough, as the SLC East-leading Lady Lions held on for a 55-50 victory at the University Center.

The Sugar Bears (8-11, 2-5) fell behind early in the first half and dug themselves a hole by shooting 20 percent from the floor (5 for 25) while senior Caronica Randle sat out the final 10 minutes of the half with three fouls. UCA trailed 25-21 at the break.

The game remained close, with UCA pulling within one on a Sharece Love 3-pointer with 10:06 to play. The Sugar Bears then took their first lead with 9:43 to play, when Randle scored inside to put UCA up 37-36.

The lead dissolved just over a minute later when SLU’s Whitnee Miller hit a jumper to put the Lady Lions up for good.

Randle hit a pair of free throws with 7:06 remaining to make it a one-point game once again, at 42-41, but the Lady Lions answered with a 6-0 run to go up 48-41 with 4:25 remaining.

UCA cut it to four on a 3-pointer by Randle with 3:10 to play, and again on a pair of Shannon Oden free throws with 1:10 to play – but came up scoreless for the duration of the game as SLU’s Jazmin Cain hit a free throw with nine seconds remaining to set the final score.

The Sugar Bears were able to keep the game close by shooting 20 of 26 from the free-throw line, good for 76.9 percent. UCA found the mark on just 2 of its 15 3-point attempts. For the game UCA shot 14 of 55 (25.5 percent) from the floor

Randle, who played all 20 minutes in the second half, finished with a team-high 15 points for UCA – leaving her just five points shy of fourth place all-time in UCA history.

Dobbins led the Sugar Bears with six assists, moving her within two of tying Windi Blevins for fifth in school history with 483.

SLU’s Brenita Williams, a first-team preseason All-SLC selection, led all scorers with 15 points in the victory.

The Sugar Bears return to action against Nicholls State at 2 p.m. Saturday.