The Jacksonville women's basketball team fell to the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears 74-63 in Thursday night's Atlantic Sun Conference opener.

The Dolphins (6-7, 0-1 ASUN) were led by a pair of veteran scorers. Graduate student forward Makayla Edwards scored a team-high 18 points, one shy of her career high. Senior guard Priscilla Williams also stepped up with 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

The Sugar Bears started hot out of the gate and took a big early lead, but Jacksonville's offense answered in the second quarter. Edwards led the way with eight first half points. After a great sequence of fluid ball movement, the Dolphins found sophomore guard Bailey Burns for a wide-open triple.

Jacksonville outscored Central Arkansas 21-18 in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14 at the break.

The Dolphins kept it going early in the third. Senior guard Priscilla Williams buried a long triple, and Edwards finished a transition layup to cut the lead to six. Williams took over in the third quarter, as Jacksonville cut the lead to seven with one quarter to play.

Edwards kept the momentum with a pair of early buckets in the fourth quarter. However, The Dolphins never found the run to fully close the gap. 

Game Notes

• Edwards scored at least 15 points for the fourth time this season. Her last such game came against Mercer on November 27.
• Williams had her fourth game with at least 15 points. She's had at least five rebounds in each of those games, as well.
• Sophomore guard Saniyah Craig grabbed 15 rebounds. This is her third game this season with 15-plus rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Sana'a Garrett scored 10 points, her third double-figure performance in her last four games.
• Garrett also set a new career high with five steals.

Head Coach Special Jennings
"We dug a hole that we couldn't get ourselves out of. We have to be better from a defensive and offensive standpoint, but it was a very lackluster start today. We get a chance to fix and correct some things and go again Saturday."

Up Next
The Dolphins will wrap up their road trip against the North Alabama Lions. Tip-off is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.