2023–24 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball team

2023–24 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball
2023–24 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball
WNIT, first round
Conference	ASUN Conference
Record	21–12 (11–5 ASUN)
Head coach	Tony Kemper (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Kaitlynn Pacholke; Tanaeya BoClair; Hailey Estes;
Home arena	Farris Center
	Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 ASUN women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Florida Gulf Coast †	16	–	0	1.000	29	–	5	.853
Stetson	12	–	4	.750	17	–	15	.531
Central Arkansas	11	–	5	.688	21	–	12	.636
Lipscomb	10	–	6	.625	17	–	13	.567
Eastern Kentucky	9	–	7	.563	22	–	12	.647
North Alabama	8	–	8	.500	12	–	18	.400
Austin Peay	8	–	8	.500	17	–	16	.515
Kennesaw State	7	–	9	.438	11	–	19	.367
Jacksonville	6	–	10	.375	11	–	20	.355
Bellarmine*	5	–	11	.313	10	–	19	.345
North Florida	3	–	13	.188	9	–	21	.300
Queens*	1	–	15	.063	7	–	22	.241
*Ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II

† 2024 ASUN tournament winner

The 2023–24 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball team represented the University of Central Arkansas during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Sugar Bears, led by first-year head coach Tony Kemper, played their home games at the Farris Center located in Conway, Arkansas as members of the ASUN Conference.

Previous season

The Sugar Bears finished the 2022–23 season 8–21, 3–15 in ASUN play, to finish in a tie for 13th (last) place.^[1] They failed to qualify for the ASUN tournament, as only the top 10 teams qualify.^[2]

On February 25, 2023, head coach Sandra Rushing announced that she would be stepping down as head coach after 11 years at the helm.^[3] On March 10, the school announced that Marshall head coach Tony Kemper would be named the team's new head coach.^[4]

Roster

2023–24 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Jade Upshaw	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Arkansas State	Sapulpa, OK
G	1	Kinley Fisher	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Mercer	Greenwood, AR
G	2	Fatime Seck	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Franklin High School	El Paso, TX
G	3	Randrea Wright	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	George Washington Carver High School	Birmingham, AL
G	4	Cheyanne Kemp	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Morrilton High School	Morrilton, AR
F	5	Bree Stephens	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Dodge City Community College	Townsville, Australia
F	12	Destine Duckworth	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	So	SIU Edwardsville	North Little Rock, AR
G	22	Leah Mafua	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Dodge City Community College	Wellington, New Zealand
G	23	Kaidyn Beckwith	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)	Fr	Conway High School	Conway, AR
G	24	Jenna Rose Mafua	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr	Dodge City Community College	Wellington, New Zealand
F	30	Kierra Prim	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Sr	Johnson County Community College	Overland Park, KS
F	32	Elizabeth Abiara	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Lake Ridge High School	Mansfield, TX
F	42	Cheyenne Banks	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Jr	Coffeyville Community College	McLoud, OK

Head coach

Tony Kemper (Fort Hays State)

Assistant coach(es)

Kaitlynn Pacholke (Newberry)
Tanaeya BoClair (Utah)
Hailey Estes (Henderson State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 26, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Hendrix	W 85–25	1–0	14 – 2 tied	8 – 2 tied	3 – 2 tied	Farris Center (348) Conway, AR
November 11, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Samford	L 62–65	1–1	15 – L. Mafua	7 – Banks	2 – 3 tied	Pete Hanna Center (306) Homewood, AL
November 14, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	UT Martin	W 56–45	2–1	10 – Upshaw	14 – Banks	3 – Wright	Farris Center Conway, AR
November 18, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	Northwestern State	Postponed^[5]					Farris Center Conway, AR
November 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., SECN+	at Arkansas	L 67–81	2–2	16 – Upshaw	9 – Banks	3 – Upshaw	Bud Walton Arena (4,194) Fayetteville, AR
November 24, 2023* 2:00 p.m., MidcoSN+	at Denver Denver Classic	W 90–84	3–2	21 – Fisher	16 – Stephens	2 – 5 tied	Hamilton Gymnasium (352) Denver, CO
November 25, 2023* 12:00 p.m., MidcoSN+	vs. Nevada Denver Classic	L 65–67 ^OT	3–3	16 – Fisher	5 – Banks	2 – 3 tied	Hamilton Gymnasium Denver, CO
November 29, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Lindenwood	W 77–64	4–3	19 – Fisher	7 – 2 tied	5 – Wright	Hyland Performance Arena (423) St. Charles, MO
December 2, 2023* 1:00 p.m.	at Little Rock	W 63–58	5–3	16 – L. Mafua	8 – Stephens	3 – Stephens	Jack Stephens Center (657) Little Rock, AR
December 5, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Tulsa	L 58–60	5–4	18 – Fisher	10 – Abiara	3 – L. Mafua	Reynolds Center (1,050) Tulsa, OK
December 9, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	Central Baptist	W 69–32	6–4	12 – Upshaw	9 – 2 tied	5 – Wright	Farris Center (380) Conway, AR
December 16, 2023* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Kansas	L 48–69	6–5	17 – Wright	7 – Banks	4 – Wright	Allen Fieldhouse (2,861) Lawrence, KS
December 20, 2023* 2:30 p.m., ESPN+	Northwestern State Rescheduled from November 18	W 75–57	7–5	18 – L. Mafua	6 – Stephens	2 – 3 tied	Farris Center (389) Conway, AR
December 29, 2023* 2:00 p.m.	at Alabama A&M						Alabama A&M Events Center Huntsville, AL
ASUN regular season
January 6, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	at North Alabama						CB&S Bank Arena Florence, AL
January 11, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	Lipscomb						Farris Center Conway, AR
January 13, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	Austin Peay						Farris Center Conway, AR
January 18, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Eastern Kentucky						Baptist Health Arena Richmond, KY
January 20, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Bellarmine						Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
January 24, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Queens						Farris Center Conway, AR
January 27, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Kennesaw State						KSU Convocation Center Kennesaw, GA
February 1, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	Jacksonville						Farris Center Conway, AR
February 3, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	North Florida						Farris Center Conway, AR
February 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Florida Gulf Coast						Alico Arena Fort Myers, FL
February 10, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Stetson						Edmunds Center DeLand, FL
February 15, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	Bellarmine						Farris Center Conway, AR
February 17, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	Eastern Kentucky						Farris Center Conway, AR
February 22, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Austin Peay						F&M Bank Arena Clarksville, TN
February 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Lipscomb						Allen Arena Nashville, TN
March 2, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	North Alabama						Farris Center Conway, AR
ASUN tournament
March 8–16, 2024 TBA	TBA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[6]^[7]

References

^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ "FGCU Claims Regular Season Title as 2023 @ASUNWBB Championship Field Finalized". Atlantic Sun Conference. March 1, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ "RUSHING STEPS DOWN FROM UCA PROGRAM". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. February 25, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ Walsh, David (March 11, 2023). "Marshall women's basketball coach Tony Kemper leaves for same position at Central Arkansas". West Virginia MetroNews. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ Welborn, Brad (November 15, 2023). "Women's basketball game at Central Arkansas postponed". Northwestern State University Athletics. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ "Central Arkansas Sugar Bears 2023-24 Regular Season Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

[1] "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

[2] "FGCU Claims Regular Season Title as 2023 @ASUNWBB Championship Field Finalized". Atlantic Sun Conference. March 1, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

[3] "RUSHING STEPS DOWN FROM UCA PROGRAM". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. February 25, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

[4] Walsh, David (March 11, 2023). "Marshall women's basketball coach Tony Kemper leaves for same position at Central Arkansas". West Virginia MetroNews. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

[5] Welborn, Brad (November 15, 2023). "Women's basketball game at Central Arkansas postponed". Northwestern State University Athletics. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

[6] "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

[7] "Central Arkansas Sugar Bears 2023-24 Regular Season Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

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[7]

v t e Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball
Venues	Farris Center (1976–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24