# 2017–18 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball team

The 2017–18 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball team represented the University of Central Arkansas during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Sugar Bears were led by sixth-year head coach Sandra Rushing and played their home games at the Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas. They were members of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 25–10, 14–4 in Southland play, to finish in third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Southland women's tournament where they lost to Stephen F. Austin. They received an invite to the WBI where they defeated SIU Edwardsville, Weber State and Nevada in the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to advanced to the championship game where they lost to Yale in the championship game.

## Previous season

They finished the season 26–5 overall and 16–2 in Southland play, to finish in first place. They won the Southland women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament for the second year in a row. They lost to Texas in the first round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | Hendrix College | W 79–22 | 1–0 | Farris Center (682) Conway, AR |
| November 14, 2017* 7:00 p.m., FCS | | at No. 3 Baylor | L 55–86 | 1–1 | Ferrell Center (4,877) Waco, TX |
| November 20, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | Alcorn State | W 75–52 | 2–1 | Farris Center (410) Conway, AR |
| November 28, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | Crowley's Ridge College | W 106–23 | 3–1 | Farris Center (327) Conway, AR |
| November 30, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | at No. 12 Tennessee | L 34–77 | 3–2 | Thompson–Boling Arena (7,311) Knoxville, TN |
| December 4, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | Williams Baptist College | W 77–31 | 4–2 | Farris Center (327) Conway, AR |
| December 7, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | Central Baptist College | W 75–34 | 5–2 | Farris Center (302) Conway, AR |
| December 9, 2017* 1:00 p.m. | | at No. 21 Texas A&M | L 61–72 | 5–3 | Reed Arena (3,886) College Station, TX |
| December 16, 2017* 1:05 p.m. | | at South Alabama | L 43–64 | 5–4 | Mitchell Center (1,901) Mobile, AL |
| December 20, 2017* 2:31 p.m. | | vs. Clemson FIU Holiday Tournament | W 57–43 | 6–4 | FIU Arena (284) Miami, FL |
| December 21, 2017* 1:00 p.m. | | vs. North Dakota State FIU Holiday Tournament | W 68–45 | 7–4 | FIU Arena Miami, FL |
| Southland Conference regular season ||||||
| December 28, 2017 1:00 p.m. | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 58–50 | 8–4 (1–0) | Dugan Wellness Center (158) Corpus Christi, TX |
| December 31, 2017 1:00 p.m. | | Southeastern Louisiana | W 63–47 | 9–4 (2–0) | Farris Center (512) Conway, AR |
| January 3, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Sam Houston State | W 69–44 | 10–4 (3–0) | Farris Center (412) Conway, AR |
| January 6, 2018 1:00 p.m. | | Lamar | W 51–39 | 11–4 (4–0) | Farris Center (425) Conway, AR |
| January 10, 2018 6:00 p.m. | | at Incarnate Word | W 57–35 | 12–4 (5–0) | McDermott Center (791) San Antonio, TX |
| January 13, 2018 6:00 p.m. | | at Nicholls | W 69–48 | 13–4 (6–0) | Stopher Gym (315) Thibodeaux, LA |
| January 17, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | New Orleans | L 48–52 | 13–5 (6–1) | Farris Center (423) Conway, AR |
| January 20, 2018 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Abilene Christian | W 63–45 | 14–5 (7–1) | Farris Center (742) Conway, AR |
| January 24, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Stephen F. Austin | L 46–59 | 14–6 (7–2) | William R. Johnson Coliseum (1,103) Nacogdoches, TX |
| January 27, 2018 1:00 p.m. | | at Northwestern State | W 61–53 | 15–6 (8–2) | Prather Coliseum (1,518) Natchitoches, LA |
| February 3, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | at Southeastern Louisiana | L 70–78 | 15–7 (8–3) | University Center (595) Hammond, LA |
| February 7, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Houston Baptist | W 64–56 | 16–7 (9–3) | Farris Center (479) Conway, AR |
| February 14, 2018 6:30 p.m. | | at McNeese | W 51–45 | 17–7 (10–3) | Burton Coliseum (767) Lake Charles, LA |
| February 17, 2018 1:00 p.m. | | Nicholls | W 60–42 | 18–7 (11–3) | Farris Center (910) Conway, AR |
| February 21, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Stephen F. Austin | L 50–55 | 18–8 (11–4) | Farris Center (428) Conway, AR |
| February 24, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | at Abilene Christian | W 73–61 | 19–8 (12–4) | Moody Coliseum (1,450) Abilene, TX |
| February 28, 2018 6:30 p.m. | | at Sam Houston State | W 73–53 | 20–8 (13–4) | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (758) Huntsville, TX |
| March 3, 2018 3:00 p.m. | | Northwestern State | W 59–39 | 21–8 (14–4) | Farris Center (1,045) Conway, AR |
| Southland women's tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2018 1:30 p.m., ESPN3 | (3) | vs. (7) Abilene Christian Quarterfinals | W 54–41 | 22–8 | Merrell Center (606) Katy, TX |
| March 10, 2018 3:30 p.m., ESPN3 | (3) | vs. (2) Stephen F. Austin Semifinals | L 60–70 | 22–9 | Merrell Center (1,446) Katy, TX |
| WBI ||||||
| March 15, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | SIU Edwardsville First round | W 51–39 | 23–9 | Farris Center (487) Conway, AR |
| March 19, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Weber State Quarterfinals | W 82–67 | 24–9 | Farris Center (2,570) Conway, AR |
| March 24, 2018 5:00 p.m. | | Nevada Semifinals | W 65–56 | 25–9 | Farris Center (1,457) Conway, AR |
| March 29, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Yale Championship game | L 50–54 | 25–10 | Farris Center (3,526) Conway, AR |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Sources: