The UCA Sugar Bears basketball team fell in the semifinals in the ASUN tournament on March 7. 

The Sugar Bears first faced off against the University of North Alabama in the quarterfinals where they knocked them out of the tournament, 67-56. 

UCA then took on Jacksonville in the semis where they could not keep up with the Dolphins’ offense, and ultimately lost 67-58. 

The quarterfinal game against the Lions was a lot of back-and-forth, and the score at the end of the first quarter was 20-14 North Alabama. 

Junior guard Laylah Reese was the leading scorer for UCA in that game with 18 points. 

In the first quarter, there was a point where UCA was down 11-2. 

Sophomore guard Jenna Cook scored a quick 3-pointer and then got a steal and a layup to narrow the lead to 15-9. 

UCA began its comeback in the second quarter when Reese hit a jumper, then sank a 3-pointer. 

That made the score 23-19 with 8:54 remaining in the first half. 

UCA finally tied the game 27-27 after two made free throws by junior guard Cheyanne Kemp. 

Then, Reese got fouled and made both of her free throws, giving UCA its first lead of the game 29-27. 

UCA trailed at the end of the first half 37-33. 

UCA would get back in the lead after another 3-pointer by Reese. 

That made the score 40-39. 

Later in the quarter, sophomore forward Linda Amaning knocked down a 3-pointer, giving the Sugar Bears their biggest lead of the game, 48-42. 

UCA began the fourth quarter up by two points, and after a 6-0 run, the Sugar Bears had a 54-48 lead, and the Lions were in trouble. 

The Sugar Bears kept their lead until the final whistle, and moved on to the semi finals. 

UCA took on the Jacksonville Dolphins in the semifinals, and that is unfortunately where its season came to an end. 

Although Central Arkansas lost, they put up a fight in the third quarter, scoring 20 points. 

Graduate student guard Shae Littleford was the leading scorer for the Sugar Bears with 19 points, followed by Kemp with 11. The Sugar Bears had no other double digit scorer in the losing effort against the Dolphins. 

The Sugar Bears began the season in a good place, barely losing to two SEC schools, the University of Arkansas and the University of Missouri.

They never looked back, and eventually made it all the way to the semi final game in the ASUN tournament.