2025–26 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball team

2025–26 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball
ConferenceAtlantic Sun Conference
Record21–11 (13–5 ASUN)
Head coach
  • Tony Kemper (3rd season)
Assistant coaches
  • Kaitlynn Pacholke
  • Hailey Estes
  • Jewel Smalls
Home arenaFarris Center
2025–26 ASUN women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Eastern Kentucky 15 – 3   .833 25 – 9   .735
Jacksonville † 13 – 5   .722 24 – 9   .727
Central Arkansas 13 – 5   .722 21 – 11   .656
Stetson 12 – 6   .667 20 – 12   .625
Florida Gulf Coast 11 – 7   .611 16 – 15   .516
North Alabama 11 – 7   .611 17 – 14   .548
West Georgia* 10 – 8   .556 18 – 13   .581
Austin Peay 8 – 10   .444 19 – 14   .576
Lipscomb 7 – 11   .389 10 – 20   .333
North Florida 4 – 14   .222 9 – 21   .300
Queens 4 – 14   .222 10 – 20   .333
Bellarmine 0 – 18   .000 2 – 30   .063
† 2026 ASUN tournament winner
* ineligible for the 2026 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
As of March 22, 2026

The 2025–26 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears basketball team represents the University of Central Arkansas during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Sugar Bears, led by third-year head coach Tony Kemper, play their home games at the Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas, as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Previous season

The Sugar Bears finished the 2024–25 season 23–10, 15–3 in ASUN play, to finish in second place.[1] They defeated Bellarmine[2] and Lipscomb,[3] before falling to top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in the ASUN tournament championship game.[4] They received an at-large bid to the WNIT,[5] where they would be defeated by Abilene Christian in the second round.[6]

Preseason

On October 17, 2025, the Atlantic Sun Conference released their preseason coaches and media polls. Central Arkansas was picked to finish second in both the coaches poll, with three first-place votes, and the media poll.[7]

Preseason rankings

Preseason All-ASUN Team

Preseason All-ASUN Team
Player Year Position
Bree Stephens^ Graduate Student Forward
(^) unanimous selection

Source:[7]

Roster

2025–26 Central Arkansas Sugar Bears women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Jenna Cook 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) So Cabot High School Cabot, Arkansas
F 2 Julianna Gibson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Saint Francis (PA) Colts Neck, New Jersey
G 4 Cheyanne Kemp 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Morrilton High School Morrilton, Arkansas
F 5 Bree Stephens 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Dodge City Community College Townsville, Australia
G 6 Carla Ramirez 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Unicaja Mijas Málaga, Spain
G 9 Paris Santacaterina 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr San Diego Mackay, Australia
G 11 Emerie Bohanon 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Conway High School Conway, Arkansas
G 12 Laylah Reese 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Three Rivers College Cabot, Arkansas
G 13 Alexis Cox 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Conway High School Conway, Arkansas
G 20 Shae Littleford 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) GS UT Martin Charleston, Illinois
F 22 Alivia Cox 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Conway High School Conway, Arkansas
G 23 Kaidyn Beckwith 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Jr Conway High School Conway, Arkansas
F 24 Kamryn Griffin 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Clark High School San Antonio, Texas
F 25 Linda Amaning 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Saint Peter's Dijon, France
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: February 24, 2026

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025*
6:30 pm, SECN+ 		at Missouri L 71–78  0–1
 Mizzou Arena (2,402)
Columbia, MO
November 7, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Lyon W 115–43  1–1
 Farris Center (689)
Conway, AR
November 10, 2025*
8:00 pm, SECN 		at Arkansas L 77–89 OT 1–2
 Bud Walton Arena (1,981)
Fayetteville, AR
November 19, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Arkansas State W 81–58  4–0
 Farris Center (839)
Conway, AR
November 24, 2025*
1:30 pm 		vs. Samford
Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic 		W 67–44  3–2
 GSU Convocation Center (1,154)
Atlanta, GA
November 25, 2025*
1:30 pm 		vs. Stony Brook
Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic 		W 70−42  4−2
 GSU Convocation Center (1,207)
Atlanta, GA
November 26, 2025*
11:00 am, ESPN+ 		at Georgia State
Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic 		W 70−51  5−2
 GSU Convocation Center (1,130)
Atlanta, GA
December 1, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Hendrix W 74–32  6–2
 Farris Center (621)
Conway, AR
December 6, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Little Rock L 48–57  6–3
 Jack Stephens Center 
Little Rock, AR
December 13, 2025*
2:00 pm 		at Grambling State W 82–75  7–3
 Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center (789)
Grambling, LA
December 17, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Louisiana Tech L 55–70  7–4
 Thomas Assembly Center (1,364)
Ruston, LA
December 22, 2025*
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Missouri State L 61–65  7–5
 Great Southern Bank Arena (1,569)
Springfield, MO
ASUN regular season
January 1, 2026
10:00 am, ESPN+ 		at Stetson W 65−43  8−5
(1–0) 		Insight Credit Union Arena (280)
DeLand, FL
January 3, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Florida Gulf Coast L 51–64  8–6
(1–1) 		Alico Arena (1,610)
Fort Myers, FL
January 8, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Bellarmine W 85–29  9–6
(2–1) 		Farris Center (647)
Conway, AR
January 10, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Eastern Kentucky L 54–64  9–7
(2–2) 		Farris Center (837)
Conway, AR
January 15, 2026
5:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Jacksonville L 86–96 OT 9–8
(2–3) 		Swisher Gymnasium (480)
Jacksonville, FL
January 17, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at North Florida W 79–72  10–8
(3–3) 		UNF Arena (603)
Jacksonville, FL
January 21, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		West Georgia W 87–66  11–8
(4–3) 		Farris Center (788)
Conway, AR
January 29, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Florida Gulf Coast L 52–63  11–9
(4–4) 		Farris Center (856)
Conway, AR
January 31, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Stetson L 64–70  11–10
(4–5) 		Farris Center (729)
Conway, AR
February 4, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Queens W 64–39  12–10
(5–5) 		Curry Arena (131)
Charlotte, NC
February 7, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Lipscomb W 60–47  13–10
(6–5) 		Farris Center (711)
Conway, AR
February 9, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		North Alabama W 59–48  14–10
(7–5) 		Farris Center 
Conway, AR
February 12, 2026
5:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Eastern Kentucky W 60–48  15–10
(8–5) 		Baptist Health Arena (638)
Richmond, KY
February 14, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Bellarmine W 85–37  16–10
(9–5) 		Knights Hall (381)
Louisville, KY
February 18, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Austin Peay W 67–63  17–10
(10–5) 		Farris Center (684)
Conway, AR
February 21, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at West Georgia W 73–59  18–10
(11–5) 		The Coliseum (749)
Carrollton, GA
February 25, 2026
5:45 pm, ESPN+ 		at North Alabama W 62–55  19–10
(12–5) 		CB&S Bank Arena (1,670)
Florence, AL
February 27, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Queens W 65–47  20–10
(13–5) 		Farris Center (713)
Conway, AR
ASUN tournament
March 5, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		(3) vs. (6) North Alabama/(11) Queens
Quarterfinals 		VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena 
Jacksonville, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  2. ^ "Women's basketball falls at UCA in ASUN Tournament quarterfinals". Bellarmine University Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  3. ^ "Women's Basketball Sees ASUN Tourney Run End in Semis". Lipscomb University. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  4. ^ "FGCU women's basketball team grabs ninth straight ASUN title; will hear NCAA tourney foe Sunday". WGCU News. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  5. ^ "WNIT tournament bracket, TV, schedule, times, where to watch". USA Today. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  6. ^ "UCA falls in WNIT, ends year". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  7. ^ a b c d "Eagles Top ASUN Women's Basketball Preseason Rankings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  8. ^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Central Arkansas Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
  9. ^ "Central Arkansas Sugar Bears 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 24, 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.