Senior forward Bree Stephens hit a game-sealing layup to put the Sugar Bears past Lipscomb 71-69 in Nashville on Jan. 23.
The Queensland, Australia, native found a seam inside the paint with 1.5 seconds remaining to give UCA its sixth ASUN conference win.
“Bree and Leah [Mafua] made a nice play, just reading the game,” coach Tony Kemper said. “They were doubling Leah so she knew if she could get it to Bree, it’s open. And Bree finished.”
The victory comes three weeks after UCA handily beat the Bisons 86-75 at the Farris Center on Jan. 8.
The Sugar Bears found most of their success in the paint against Lipscomb, securing 39 rebounds and scoring 48 points.
“That’s something that we are trying to get better at,” Kemper said. “We’ve had two back-to-back games where we really rebounded the ball.
“Second chance points, especially early when we need them, that’s something we want to continue to do all year,” he said.
While they did not have much success from beyond the arc, going 3-18, UCA was able to keep momentum through offensive rebounding, generating 14 compared to Lipscomb’s 3.
Sophomore forward Elizabeth Abiara led the team in rebounds with 10, while adding 16 points to complete the double-double.
“I think more of just being patient with offensive rebounds and just going up strong and going immediately,” Abiara said. “That really helped me with my game tonight and that’s something I’ve been trying to work on.”
Abiara was the team’s leading scorer in the first half with 10 points, helping UCA hold a tight 34-32 halftime lead.
Senior guard Jade Upshaw was able to hit her stride in the second half after a quiet first, finishing with 18 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes.
Upshaw also led the team in three-pointers, going 2-6 from deep.
The Sugar Bears remained ahead defensively, taking away the Bisons’ second-chance opportunities with 25 defensive rebounds.
“We guarded the basketball pretty well all night. That’s a really good offensive team because they can all go score the ball at the rim,” Kemper said. “We leveled the ball pretty well. We did a good job of contesting in the play without fouling.”
UCA also forced 13 Lipscomb turnovers, along with four blocks and seven steals.
The Sugar Bears finished with 13 points off turnovers.
“That was kind of the game plan going in because last game they didn’t really do a good job of boxing me out. And I think in this game they did a worse job,” Abiara said. “So I kind of just took advantage and I just said ‘OK, this is my opportunity.’”
Neither team found themselves able to pull away throughout the game, as neither team held a double-digit lead at any point.
UCA did hold a 69-63 lead with 2:03 remaining, but Lipscomb stayed in the game and eventually tied through its three-point shooting.
In the final seconds, Bison senior guard Jalyn Holcomb was unable to force a potential game-winning steal on UCA’s eventual game-winning possession.
“They actually took us out of what we wanted. We wanted to lift a pass over the top. And they sent and denied it,” Kemper said. “We talked about, if they do deny, you’re just going to break hard back to the ball.”
The Sugar Bears got significant contributions off the bench, with junior forward Destine Duckworth finishing with five points and four rebounds and senior guard Randrea Wright finishing with 10 points and four rebounds.
“We put pressure on the basket, so we typically score a lot in the paint,” Kemper said. “That’s something we’ve got to continue so that on nights, like tonight, where we don’t shoot it that well, you still have a chance to win.”
With the Music City victory, the Sugar Bears improved to 12-6 on the season and 6-1 in conference play. The win put the Bears one game behind Florida Gulf Coast, who they play Feb. 20, for first place in the ASUN conference.
