The Central Arkansas women’s basketball team secured a 64-39 victory over Queens in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday. The win comes after two challenging games for the Sugar Bears and was marked by strong defensive play, holding Queens to just 28 percent shooting from the field.
Cheyanne Kemp led Central Arkansas with a career-high 26 points and added ten rebounds, recording her first double-double. Kemp consistently scored inside, with more than half of her points coming at the rim. Shae Littleford contributed 15 points to the effort.
Central Arkansas started the game strong, scoring the first eight points and maintaining an early lead. Five players scored in the opening quarter while Queens struggled offensively, making only one of their first eleven shots. Bree Stephens hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to extend Central Arkansas’s lead to eight points at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Kemp continued to exploit mismatches and scored five of Central Arkansas’s first seven shots. Emerie Bohanon made a key defensive play late in the half, forcing a turnover that helped maintain a 12-point halftime lead for Central Arkansas. Kemp led all scorers at halftime with 12 points.
The Sugar Bears opened the second half with another eight-point run to increase their advantage to 20 points. Although Queens managed to reduce the deficit slightly, Central Arkansas maintained control throughout. Paris Santacaterina and Littleford each hit three-pointers late in the third quarter as Central Arkansas kept its lead at 15 heading into the fourth.
Kemp and Littleford combined for ten consecutive points early in the final quarter, extending Central Arkansas’s lead further. Jenna Cook contributed additional baskets during an 8-0 run that increased the margin to 26 points.
With this result, Central Arkansas has now won five straight games against Queens.
The Sugar Bears will return home for their next two games: they will face Lipscomb on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a rescheduled matchup against North Alabama on Monday due to previous winter weather conditions.
