JONESBORO – The Arkansas State Athletics Department announced Tuesday that its Sept. 19 home football game against Central Arkansas has been rescheduled for Oct. 10.

The game’s postponement is due to Arkansas State being unable to assemble a full two-deep depth chart at a specific position group due to player unavailability.

It was not the volume of total players unavailable, but rather the inability to field a safe number of players among the depleted position group that required the game be rescheduled.

“We are obviously disappointed for the student-athletes participating from both schools, as well as both coaching staffs and fan bases,” said A-State Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir.  “We are excited that we’ve rescheduled this game to be played at Centennial Bank Stadium on Oct. 10.

“While no one wanted this outcome, the health and safety of our student-athletes will always come first.  We will remain diligent in our health and safety protocols, and we look forward to resuming our 2020 schedule next week against Tulsa.”

All tickets purchased for the UCA game will be honored on the new Oct. 10 game date.

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JONESBORO – The Arkansas State Athletics Department announced Friday it has added a Sept. 19 home game against Southland Conference member Central Arkansas to its 2020 football schedule.

While the contest being played is still subject to change, A-State is now slated to face UCA for the 26th time in school history.  The two programs last met during the 2016 season.

The Red Wolves’ contest against UCA will replace one of the two games against Michigan and Howard that were previously on their 2020 schedule.  While there is still potential for A-State to add an additional opponent, the UCA contest on Sept. 19 gives A-State 11 games on its regular-season schedule.

UCA finished last season ranked 11th in the nation in the FCS and is this year’s preseason favorite to win the Southland Conference according to the league’s preseason poll.  The reigning Southland Conference champions completed last year with a 9-4 overall record and 7-2 conference mark.

The 2019 season saw A-State make its ninth consecutive bowl-game appearance, capping off an 8-5 campaign by defeating Florida International in the Camellia Bowl. The Red Wolves’ bowl streak is the 14th longest in the nation.

A-State has piled up 75 victories over the last nine years to tie the 24th most in the nation over that span.  The Red Wolves have also strung together 15 consecutive years with a winning record at Centennial Bank Stadium dating back to 2005.  The program is 68-17 (.800 winning percentage) at the stadium since the 2005 campaign and has won 43 of its last 53 home outings.

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – Things looked promising early on for Central Arkansas at Kansas State on Thursday as the Sugar Bears got out to a 7-0 start and led by as many as nine in the first quarter – but after going into the half down by just four, the third quarter did the Sugar Bears in as they were outscored 20-8 by K-State as the Wildcats got some separation en route to a 70-54 victory at Bramlage Coliseum.

“I’m really pleased with our effort – we were just outmatched,” said Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing. “I’m proud, I’m happy with this – not with the score, but with the way we fought. We missed so many assignments tonight, but we were going hard. I’m really happy with the way we came out, and we had certain units that played well, but we made a lot of mental mistakes and we’ve got to clean that up.”

The Sugar Bears (5-5) led the Wildcats (8-3) 13-10 after the first quarter, and were ahead or tied for more than 14 minutes in the first half before K-State took the lead for good with just under five minutes to go in the second quarter, leading by as many as six before taking a four-point cushion into the locker room at the break.

Central Arkansas found itself down just two with 6:30 to go in the third, but K-State closed out the period on a 16-2 run – holding the Sugar Bears to only a pair of Alana Canady free throws over the duration of the quarter as the Wildcats extended their lead to 16.

The Wildcats’ lead swelled to 22 late in the fourth quarter, but the Sugar Bears closed by outscoring K-State 11-5 to trim the final margin to 16 as each team scored 24 in the final frame.

The Sugar Bears shot 37.3 percent from the field for the game, including a fourth quarter in which they were 7 of 11 (63.6 percent); and were 5 of 10 from 3-point range – making them 13-for-22 (59.1 percent) over the last two games after starting the year hitting just 18.2 percent in their first eight games.

They also enjoyed their best night of the season at the free throw line, knocking down 11 of 12 (91.7 percent) – including 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter.

“We shot 50 percent from the 3 and over 90 percent at the free throw line – there were a lot of positive things tonight,” Rushing said. “One positive thing is that our young kids have gained so much experience. This was a great learning experience for us. We had people get frustrated, and we have to learn how to handle adversity. My frustration tonight came from having to discipline people on the bench for not listening or not looking. We’ve got to focus in on what we have to do. Energy is contagious and positive attitudes are contagious. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Freshman Alana Canady led Central Arkansas in scoring with 14 points, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Taylor Sells had her second consecutive game in double figures, scoring 12 and committing just one turnover in 31 minutes. Kamry Orr added 9 points, a game-high 9 rebounds, and a pair of steals. Alanie Fisher had 8 points in 15 minutes off the bench, and Maddie Goodner added 5 points and had 3 assists.

“I thought [Canady] got a lot of good experience tonight, but she showed she was a freshman at times,” Rushing said. “I thought Sells did a great job – she pushed the basketball and handled it pretty well. I know she gets tired, but she’s going to have to be able too play 40 minutes for us, and Kamry Orr is going to have to play 40 minutes. Alanie Fisher had some productivity at the end of the game, but we needed more. She got zero rebounds – not one of her best games. For us to win big games, we’ve got to have everybody contributing.”

The Wildcats were led by 17 points from Rachel Ranks, with Peyton Williams getting 12 and Jasauen Beard adding 10. The win was K-State’s second of the season over a Southland team, having beaten league preseason favorite Lamar 73-55 on Dec. 5.

The Sugar Bears now turn their attention to Southland play, as the 18-game conference slate begins on Dec. 31 in the Farris Center against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“We don’t play again until the 31st – that’s a long time not to play a game, but we definitely need this break,” Rushing said. “We’ll practice twice, then give them a few days off, then get back to work.We still have a ways to – but they want to win. They’re trying and I appreciate that.”

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HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas women’s golf team fired a final-round 291 on Tuesday to grab the title at the Little Rock Women’s Golf Classic played at Diamante Country Club.

UCA, which had the lowest round of the day by six strokes, vaulted from sixth place to the championship, its second in four years at the tournament, and fourth consecutive Top 2 finish at the tourney.

Senior Emma Svensson, the medalist at the 2015 tournament, was the catalyst, shooting a 4-under 68 on Tuesday to finish fifth overall (73-78-68_219). Svensson, from Halmstad, Sweden, had six birdies and two bogeys on the day. 

Freshman Tania Nunez tied for 13th place with rounds of 79-74-71_224, while freshman Elin Kumlin tied for 16th (76-77-74_227). Freshman Karley Whittington shot 75-74-80_229 and tied for 23rd, while senior Sally Fridstrom shot 80-79-78_237 and tied for 55th. Freshman Gracen Blount shot 74-82-81_237 and also tied for 55th.

Missouri State finished second at 900, followed by UTEP (902), Western Kentucky (904), Lamar (907), South Alabama (909), Utah Valley (913), UMKC (920), Little Rock (925), Houston Baptist (925), ULM (927), Northern Iowa (931), UT Arlington (933), Arkansas State (943), Stephen F. Austin (956) and McNeese State (975).

By finishing ahead of Little Rock, UCA picked up two points in the “Governor’s I-40 Showdown” and now leads the year-long competition 14.5 to 3.5.

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CONWAY – The 15th-ranked University of Central Arkansas Bears rolled up an even 500 yards of total offense in a convincing 38-17 victory over the Northwestern State Demons in Southland Conference action Saturday on “The Stripes” at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The win for the Bears (5-2, 4-1), coupled with losses by No. 6 McNeese State and No. 10 Sam Houston, moved them into a tie for first place in the SLC with Incarnate Word and McNeese, with Sam Houston dropping to 3-2. UCA has four regular-season games remaining, including next Saturday’s 6 p.m. matchup against McNeese in Lake Charles.

UCA redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Hales had his second five-touchdown passing game in his third career start, completing 12 of 28 passes for 278 yards. Hales, who inherited the starting role after injuries to Breylin Smith and Kirk Baugh, tossed a pair of touchdown passes to senior Jakari Dillard, and three more to senior Lester Wells, redshirt freshman LujuanWinningham and junior running back Carlos Blackman. He now has 11 touchdown passes in his three career games under center.

The Bears grabbed an 28-3 lead midway through the second quarter after scoring tosses of 31 and 25 yards to Dillard, 53 yards to Wells and 15 yards to Winningham. UCA, which has won three consecutive games since an overtime loss on the road at Sam Houston State, settled for a 28-10 halftime lead after putting up 325 yards of offense and holding the Demons to just 119 (27 on the ground).

UCA’s defense was strong against the run for the second straight week, holding NSU to 32 net yards on 26 rushing attempts, after limiting Stephen F. Austin to -20 yards on the ground in the previous game. UCA’s opponents are now averaging 99.1 yards per game through seven games.

NSU, which lost to UCA for the fifth consecutive time, got 187 passing yards from third-team quarterback Kaleb Fletcher, who came in for backup Clay Holgorsen, who left with injury in the first quarter. NSU starting quarterback Shelton Eppler, who has 1,679 passing yards and 14 touchdowns, missed the game with a concussion. Junior running back Jared West, the No. 4 rusher in the SLC, was held to 52 yards on 10 carries. Junior receiver Jazz Ferguson caught eight passes and matched his league-leading season average of 108 receiving yards but was kept out of the end zone.

The Demons scored on a 35-yard field goal by Austyn Fendrick in the second quarter, a 7-yard run by Fletcher in the final minute of the first half and a 53-yard pass from Fletcher to Jaylen Watson with 39 seconds left in the game.

UCA, showing its defensive depth in the second half, had 26 different players record a tackle, with five Bears tying for with a high of four. The Bears had 7.0 tackles for loss (-54 yards), with 1.5 each from sophomore Jackie Harvell and sophomore Austin Norris. Sophomore cornerback Robert Rochell claimed UCA’s only turnover with an interception at the NSU 39 on the Demons’ second possession of the game. That led to Hales’ 53-yard touchdown pass to Winningham, the first of his career and good for a 21-0 UCA lead at the 13:41 mark of the second period.

Blackman led all rushers with 84 yards and also caught his first touchdown pass of the season. The junior from Gosnell is now just 103 yards away from 2,000 career rushing yards. Sophomore running back D’erek Fernandez of Fort Smith saw his most extensive action of the season and ran for a career-high 59 yards on 11 carries (5.4 average). Dillard caught four passes for 109 yards and two scores, while Wells had three for 79.

UCA, which had 222 rushing yards on the night, held the ball for 10:52 of the fourth quarter (30:21 for the game) and converted 8 of 15 third-down opportunities for the game, compared to 2 of 14 for NSU. Senior Matt Cummins capped UCA’s time-consuming 17-play drive in the fourth quarter with a 34-yard field goal that put the Bears up 38-10.

After the McNeese game, UCA returns home to host Lamar on Nov. 3 and UIW on Nov. 10 before finishing the regular season on the road at Abilene Christian.

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    MONTGOMERY, Texas – The top-seeded University of Central Arkansas women’s golf team sits in second place after Round 1 of the 2018 Southland Conference Championship being played at Woodforest Golf Club.

UCA shot 299 and is two shots behind Houston Baptist and six shots ahead of third-place Sam Houston State. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is fourth at 306, followed by McNeese State (308), Lamar (311), Incarnate Word (314) and Stephen F. Austin (318).

UCA freshman Geraldine Wong is in second place overall after opening with a 1-over 72. Wong had an eagle on No. 6 to go with three bogeys for her 72. She trails HBU’s Alisa Chong by a stroke and is one stroke in front of HBU’s Kaity Cummings.

UCA senior Fernanda Lira and junior Emma Svensson are tied for seventh place with 4-over 75s, while freshman Tasha Ainsley-Thomas is tied for 14th (77) and freshman Brett Permann is tied for 28th (80).

The second round is set for Tuesday morning, with the tournament wrapping up on Wednesday morning. UCA is a three-time runner-up at the SLC Championship.

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