Sam Houston State’s women’s basketball lost the season series against Central Arkansas with a 64-56 loss at home Thursday.
The Bearkats came out the gates slow on both ends of the basketball on the last home game for the Kats’ seniors.
“The girls just weren’t comfortable tonight,” head coach Brenda Welch-Nichols said. “We got to do a better job of starting and ending.”
The Kats’ defense started off limiting the Bears to only one shot, but as the half progressed, the Kats gave up to many offensive rebounds to the Bears. UCA scored 13 second chance points off six offensive rebounds in the first half.
The Bears leading scorer sophomore guard Maggie Proffitt got going late in the first half, but finished the half with only nine points. She was able to repeat the performance in the second half to end the game with 18 points.
Since Proffitt struggled early, the Bears junior guard Kendara Watts and senior forward Terai Sadler took over the scoring load. Watts finished the game with 15 points and Sadler had 17.
The Kats’ leader Shernise Robertson struggled early with only four points on 1-for-6 shooting. Robertson finished the game with 12 points. Sophomore guard Taylor Dorsey took over the scoring load and 18 points on the nights.
SHSU could not make the open baskets. The Kats shot 31 percent from the field and 20 percent from the three-point range in the first half.
The Kats’ offense did what they could in the second half with more aggression and drawing fouls to get to the line, but the defense could not match the offense’s play. SHSU struggled to limit the Bears’ offense while having trouble controlling the post and securing the defensive rebounds.
SHSU will now travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday. Tip-off is set for noon.