Feb 16th, 2007 07:16AM
by:

By JOSH GOFF
UCA ASSISTANT SID

BEAUMONT, Texas –  A dismal second-half shooting performance did in the University of Central Arkansas Sugar Bears Thursday night as the Lamar Lady Cardinals battled back from a 10-point deficit to pull out an 81-78 win in the Montagne Center.

After shooting 42 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range in the first half, the Sugar Bears were limited to just six second-half field goals on 24 attempts (25 percent) form the floor and shot just 27 percent on 3s as Lamar battled back from their earlier woes to regain control of the game. 

“I think our motor overheated and fell out of the car,” said UCA head coach Checola Seals-Horton. “Then they got hot and started pounding it inside and we didn’t get our defensive stops. Once again, offside rebounds came back to bite us on the backside, and they kept chipping away at us. We stopped making easy shots and stopped getting rebounds, and when you pile those things up bad things start to happen.”

The bad things started happening for the Sugar Bears with 11:26 in the second half, when UCA went five straight possessions without even getting off a shot, committing turnovers each time down. That stretch was the beginning of a 14-3 Lady Cardinal run, as the score went from 56-48 UCA to 62-59 Lamar over the next 5:27. After a 3-pointer by Allyson Sample with 11:52 to play, the Sugar Bears went 9:35 without a field goal as Lamar built its lead to as much as five.

Mariesha Piggee broke the drought with 2:17 to play when she knocked home a jumper to pull UCA within three, 73-70.

Lamar’s Shontrice Blanche scored inside to push the lead back to five, but UCA answered back with a pair of free throws by Renita Dobbins.

On the other end, Lamar’s LaToya Carson, who led all scorers with 23, gathered an offensive rebound and drew a foul, then hit both free throws to get the lead to five once again. With 39 seconds to play, Dobbins hit two more free throws, but the Lady Cardinals’ Vickie Toney came back with one of her own a second later to put Lamar up 78-74.
On UCA’s next possession, Caronica Randle hit one of two to draw the Sugar Bears within three once more. Two free throws from Lamar’s Alexis Timpone put the Lady Cardinals up 80-75 with 20 seconds to go, but Randle came back to draw a foul on a 3-pointer on the next UCA possession. Randle sank all three to pull UCA within two, and they were presented with a golden opportunity when Timpone missed the front end of her free throws with five seconds to play.

With a chance to tie and the length of the floor ahead of them, the Sugar Bears inbounded to Dobbins, who raced up the court and hoisted a last-second 3 that rimmed out, giving Lamar their first victory in five games.

The Sugar Bears shot 82.4 percent from the free throw line, including 22 of 25 (88 percent) in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome their cold shooting from the field, and the defensive lapses that allowed Lamar to shoot 55 percent in the second half and 47.5 percent for the game.
In the loss, UCA got 40 of its 78 points off the bench with Dobbins being used as a reserve. Sample had 16 to tie Randle for the team lead, and Dobbins added 12 off the bench. Meaghen Kelleybrew added 11 points in 16 minutes of play.

“Our bench did a great job for us tonight,” Seals-Horton said. “They stepped up and gave us some big minutes we needed. But when you give up 81 points you’re not going to win many ballgames. They had 35 at the half, and we gave up too many in the second half. We didn’t get our stops and we had talked about how they are a second-half team.”

Dobbins also added a season-high 10 assists for her first double-double of the season.

The Sugar Bears, who were outrebounded 45-31, were led on the boards by Alex Velazquez, who had 7 rebounds and 7 points in 17 minutes.

The Sugar Bears return to action Saturday at 4 p.m. when they travel to Lake Charles, La. to take on last-place McNeese State.