The UCA women’s basketball team will try to make use of home court advantage against the University of Nevada (19-16) in the Women’s Basketball Invitational semifinals on March 24 in the Farris Center.
UCA has a 14-2 home record, while Nevada has a 3-9 record on the road.
The team with the higher ratings percentage index has the first option to host the game for the WBI. According to ncaa.com, UCA had an RPI of 123 at the end of the regular season and Nevada had an RPI of 170.
UN won its most recent game of the tournament at Fresno State University 86-74.
The Wolfpack rolled on offense, shooting 56 percent in the game, including 9 makes out of 13 attempts from the 3-point line.
Senior guard T Moe scored 34 points for the Wolfpack in the game, and Nevada scored at least 18 points in each quarter.
The semifinal game between UCA and Nevada will be a contrast of the high-scoring offense of Nevada against the high-pressure, slow-paced play of UCA.
The Sugar Bears (24-9) had home court advantage in the quarterfinals against Weber State University and won the game by a considerable margin, 82-67.
UCA started the game with one of its highest scoring outputs for a single quarter, scoring 27 in the first quarter.
UCA stifled the offense of Weber State, only allowing 24 points through the first half to take a 46-24 lead into the break.
UCA didn’t let up in the second half, and the Lady Wildcats only made a third of their shots for the game.
Junior guard Kamry Orr scored 25 points for UCA on 8 of 10 shooting.
UCA took advantage of the post presence of senior Kierra Jordan, who gave the Sugar Bears 16 points, including six free throws.
Senior forward Taylor Baudoin added 14 points for the Sugar Bears, junior guard Antonija Bozic scored 11 points and sophomore guard Taylor Sells had 10 points.
The semifinal matchup is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. The winner will play the University of South Alabama or Yale University in the WBI championship.
Prior to the Sugar Bears quarterfinal victory, the men’s basketball season came to a close with an 80-59 defeat at the hands of Jacksonville State University.
Jacksonville State started the game on an 8-0 run and extended their lead with ten 3-pointers throughout the game, making 10 of 22.
As JSU’s lead increased, UCA tried to come back with their own 3-pointers, but struggled from deep, only making 5 of 22 from beyond the arc.
In the game, senior guard Jordan Howard led the Bears with 15 points and senior guard Mathieu Kamba had 10 points.
Senior forward Ethan Lee added six points for the Bears. Each senior received applause from the crowd as they left the game during the dead periods in the game.
Howard scored the most points of any Division-1 men’s basketball player this year.
UCA earned its first Division-1 postseason tournament victory against the University of Seattle on March 15.
Behind the leadership of Howard and the other seniors, the men’s basketball team won the most games for UCA in a single season in Division-1 play, with 18 wins.
Photo from UCA Sports.
