Well, that's that.

Just when you thought the Sugar Bears had it together and had put behind them whatever led to a late-season collapse, they managed to let one more slip away. They had West Georgia on the ropes and let them bounce back, failing to "close the door" as they've talked about all season long.

In the first half they did a great job of limiting Tai Ellis' looks and then she got in foul trouble – making her a virtual non-factor. She got things going pretty good in the second half with 12 points, but didn't just single-handedly kill UCA. In the battle of the conference's No. 1 and No. 2 scorers, Caronica Randle had a better game – outscoring Ellis by 10.

The outcome of the game was pretty much determined outside of those two. West Georgia got 49 points from its supporting cast, UCA got 30.

When Ellis was locked down, players like Natasha Liggins and Yvonne Killings stepped up. Both were instrumental in big stretches and they finished with a combined 33 points on 14 of 31 shooting.
After Caronica, UCA's next-highest scorer was Shannon Oden with 6. Outside of those two, the Sugar Bears went just 8 for 36 from the floor – good for 22 percent.

One of the key differences from the first half to the second – aside from Ellis' production – was the free throw and three-point shooting for UCA in the second half. In the first half, UCA was 10-13 from the foul line and 3-11 from outside. With Ellis in foul trouble and Liggins strapped with four of her own, the Sugar Bears never could take advantage, getting just four free throw attempts in the second half. Instead of attacking, they settled for outside shots – going 2 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half.

Often times it seemed the Sugar Bears didn't settle down and run much of an offense, settling for a lot of quick shots. Of course, several of those were good looks that just didn't fall, so it's hard to look at that and point to it as the game's deciding factor.

In all, the Sugar Bears had just two assists while finishing with 15 turnovers.

In the loss, Randle did move into fifth on UCA's all-time scoring list, needing just three points coming into the game to pass Kim Powell.

Allyson Sample was finally back on the court after an unfortunate stress fracture in the middle of the year derailed her season. She had her stroke going in warmups, hitting a few in a row from beyond the NBA 3-point line, but couldn't get things going during the game.

In 10 minutes she missed on all five of her shots, but did manage to grab a rebound, play sound defense and made a couple good hustle plays – including knocking the ball away and diving on the floor after it before getting pummeled by some West Georgia players, and leaping out of bounds to make a save on the offensive end. I just hope she didn't aggravate her injury or anything else on that play, when she went barreling into some big photographer.

For awhile it looked like the Sugar Bears were going to go ahead and roll over West Georgia to set up a clash with Henderson State or a rematch of last year's final with Valdosta State (who looked pretty good in a win over SAU ... then again, a lot of teams look good beating SAU). A win might've solidified a regional berth for UCA since they entered as the South's No. 9 team and West Georgia is No. 8 in the latest poll. UAM – which lost to West Alabama – was No. 7.

Instead, West Georgia was able to come away with the game and bring an end to UCA's Division II era. It may not have ended perfectly, but after last year just about anything was going to feel like a letdown. Nolan Richardson once said something about creating a monster and then having to feed it. The Sugar Bears monster was huge after last year, and there was almost no way to keep it fed and happy. A winning season, a winning conference record, an eighth consecutive GSC tourney appearance and all of that isn't what the UCA faithful are accustomed to, but it ain't just a horrible season.

But it's done. On to next year.