The University of Central Arkansas Sugar Bears made a comeback win after a 17-point lead from the North Florida Ospreys Jan. 27.

With a final score of 56-53, the Sugar Bears had a close win. The Sugar Bears only outscored the University of North Florida in the 3rd quarter, which was enough to put the Sugar Bears in the lead. The teams then tied in the 4th quarter at 13 points each.

“For us to fight back from a 17-point deficit to win the game shows the fight that we have, and what we are capable of doing when we play together!” Senior guard Carley Hudspeth said. The first half of the game left the Sugar Bears 12 points down going into halftime, where Hudspeth said the team refocused.

Hudspeth scored one point during the game, a free throw in the last 11 seconds. Combined with Hudspeth’s free throw, two free throws made by graduate student guard Savanna Walker 20 seconds earlier helped to stretch the Sugar Bears’ lead and fend off the Ospreys.

Junior forward Lucy Ibeh said following coach Sandra Rushing’s game plan helped to make the comeback after not following the game plan in the first half put them behind. Playing hard for the final 40 minutes and finishing on empty was the game plan, Ibeh said.

The Sugar Bears spent the first five minutes of the game without any scoring while the Ospreys created an 11-point lead. Ibeh made a layup, assisted by freshman guard Randrea Wright, and put the first points on the board for the Sugar Bears. They closed the 11-point lead down to seven, ending the first quarter 15-8, North Florida. 

While the Sugar Bears were again outscored in the 2nd quarter, they didn’t let the Ospreys grow the lead by too much, only scoring five points less than the Ospreys. The quarter was closed out by a pair of free throws from freshman forward Jayla Cody and another two free throws from freshman forward Leah Perry.

“Our shots finally began to fall in the second half,” Hudspeth said. In the 3rd quarter, the Sugar Bears scored 22 points to the Ospreys seven. “We came back out with a fire,” Hudspeth said.

Graduate student forward Hannah Langhi led the Sugar Bears with 15 points, followed by Wright with 13 points and Ibeh with nine points.

The Sugar Bears last played the Ospreys in Jan. 2015, where the Sugar Bears won 57-34.

The Sugar Bears played the Jacksonville University Dolphins in Florida and lost 56-53 Jan. 29, where Wright scored 19 points for the Sugar Bears.

“Jacksonville is a great team. But we are too, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how we carry this momentum into this next game! We have what it takes, and we have to execute our game plan and play together,” Hudspeth said.

The Sugar Bears will return home for their next game against Florida Gulf Coast University Feb. 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the Farris Center.