The UCA Sugar Bears basketball team defeated the North Florida Ospreys 67-53, collecting its fourth win in ASUN conference play Jan. 16.
UCA got off to a hot start, notching the first 5 points of the game from a layup by senior guard Jade Upshaw and a 3-pointer by senior guard Leah Mafua.
The Sugar Bears lead the Ospreys 17-10 at the end of the first quarter.
After North Florida nailed two 3-pointers, they found themselves within 3 points of the Sugar Bears.
But that changed quickly as UCA began a sizable scoring run, scoring 24 in the second quarter and leading North Florida 41-20 at halftime.
Sugar Bears coach Tony Kemper noted that good ball movement led to his team’s performance in the first half.
“We had 15 assists tonight and were really good offensively in the first half,” Kemper said.
UCA’s biggest lead in the game would come in the third quarter after 4 quick points by sophomore forward Elizabeth Abiara.
This made it a 46-23 Sugar Bear lead.
This lead did not last long as the Ospreys began a scoring run of their own, sinking layup after layup, making the score 49-36 at the end of the third quarter.
“We didn’t come out of the locker room well, ” Kemper said. “I think it is human nature to think you’ve got it and there is a lot of game to play — Hopefully that is a learning lesson within our locker room that there is no such thing as cruise control, and we’ve got to get that rectified.”
“I thought our energy dipped — I also thought we were passive. On the offensive end, we went into a mode where I didn’t think we were quite looking as hard to make plays,” Kemper said. North Florida continued its run in the fourth quarter, cutting the UCA lead down to 8 points.
But that was not enough to come back as UCA picked up the pace late in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we played a really good second quarter, and we made enough plays then to withstand the run that they made — It obviously was a little better in the fourth quarter — we backed down free throws when it mattered, ” Kemper said.
UCA was able to hold on to get the 67-53 win on Bruce and Sugar’s birthday.
Jade Upshaw collected her 1,000th point in her collegiate basketball career.
“The thing I like about Jade is the way she approaches basketball — she enjoys it. She has fun,” Kemper said.
Another key component in this game was the performance of Mafua, recording 24 points and 12 rebounds, picking up the double-double.
“It takes a lot of pressure off having people you can trust,” senior point guard Kinley Fisher said.
“If I’m not hitting them today, then Leah [Mafua] obviously stepped up — and Jade normally steps up,” Fisher said.
After the win against North Florida, UCA took on Stetson at home Jan. 18 and cruised past the Hatters 85-64.
UCA will match up against Lipscomb on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 5 p.m.