HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana senior forward
Nanna Pool scored her 1,300
th career point but the Lady Lions were unable to catch Central Arkansas in the final seconds as the Sugar Bears held on for a 64-60 Southland Conference win on Senior Day Saturday in the University Center.
Southeastern (4-23, 3-13), playing its final home game of the season, saw its hopes for a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament end with its fourth-straight loss. Central Arkansas (24-3, 14-2) won its fifth straight to clinch the top seed in the tournament.
Pool tossed in a short jumper off a
Taylin Underwood assist with 1:39 remaining for her 1,300
th point, becoming the fifth Lady Lion to reach the milestone. She had passed Kristy Carlin (2005-09) into sixth place on Southeastern's scoring list with a jumper with 6:23 left in the second quarter.
Pool finished with a team-high 25 points and nine rebounds, just missing her fifth straight double-double. Senior guard
Erica Hernandez added 15 points while senior guard
KaeLynn Boyd had eight points, eight assists, three steals and six rebounds. The four seniors – Pool, Hernandez, Boyd and guard
Peaches Anderson accounted for 50 of the Lady Lions' 60 points.
Maggie Proffitt poured in a career-high 32 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead Central Arkansas. Taylor Baudoin added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds while Kendara Watts had 10 points.
Hernandez tied the game for the 12
th time at 53 with a jumper with 3:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. Proffitt answered with a pair of free throws and Sandy Jackson followed with a jumper to give UCA a 57-53 lead with 2:37 left. After a jumper by Pool, Brianna Mullins hit two free throws for a 59-55 lead with 1:49 left.
Pool and Watts traded jumpers before
Bre Warren hit a 3 to bring Southeastern to within 61-60 with 52 seconds remaining. Baudoin then missed a jumper as the shot clock expired but Watts put back the rebound with 16 seconds left.
Raquel Logan then grabbed a steal and was fouled but missed both free throws with 11 seconds left. Following a foul by Mullins and a Southeastern timeout, Underwood was trapped on the left sideline and was ruled to have a stepped out of bounds. Baudoin was then fouled and hit the first foul shot to give the Sugar Bears the 64-60 lead with 5 seconds left.
Anderson hit a jumper to give Southeastern a 42-40 lead to start the fourth quarter. Hernandez knocked down a 3 and Pool added a jumper to make it 47-44 with 8:31 left. Proffitt regained the lead for UCA at 49-47 with a 3 with 6:50 left. Two ties and a lead change later, Proffitt made it 53-51 with a jumper with 3:50 left.
Proffitt gave UCA a 31-24 lead with a jumper with 7:56 left in the third. It was 35-28 with 5:52 left when Southeastern went on a 9-0 run, using two Boyd free throws, a layup by Pool and a 3 by Hernandez to tie the game at 35 at the 4:32 mark. A jumper by Pool gave the Lady Lions their first lead since the first quarter with 3:42 remaining.
Proffitt hit a 3 to put UCA ahead 40-38 with 1:22 left but Boyd hit two free throws with a minute remaining to tie the game at 40 going into the final quarter.
Southeastern took a 9-7 lead on a Hernandez jumper at the 5:10 mark of the first quarter. Proffitt put UCA up 11-9 with a jumper with 3:49 remaining. Boyd tied it at 11 on a layup with 3:10 left but the Sugar Bears closed the quarter on a 5-0 run, taking a 16-11 lead on two Watts free throws with 26 seconds left.
The run grew to 11-0 as a pair of Proffitt 3s gave UCA a 22-11 lead with 6:43 left in the first half. After Pool's jumper ended Southeastern's 6:47 scoreless spell, Fielder hit a jumper from the right side and Boyd followed with a layup to pull the Lady Lions to within 22-17 at the 5:01 mark.
Warren hit a 3 and Fielder added another jumper as Southeastern cut the deficit to 26-22 with 3:47 left. But Proffitt hit her fourth 3 of the half as UCA took a 29-24 lead into the half.
Southeastern will close out the season at New Orleans at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and at Nicholls at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
