CONWAY, Ark. — Perhaps there is something in the water on the campus of Arkansas-Monticello. It seems its sports teams have a penchant for knocking off NCAA Division I opponents. Nearly three-and-a-half months after the UAM football team opened the football season by knocking off D-I Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the kelly green and white has struck again, as the UAM women’s basketball team shocked D-I Central Arkansas 78-69 in exhibition basketball action Thursday at the UCA Farris Center.

“It was an ugly game both ways,” UAM coach Chris Ratcliff said.

And the Cotton Blossoms were able to take advantage. Using a plethora of defenses to try to confuse the Sugar Bears, UAM (6-3) limited UCA to only 36 percent shooting for the game. The Sugar Bears hit only 4-of-18 (22 percent) from behind the 3-point arc as well.

“We just mixed it up defensively,” Ratcliff said. “We have been struggling with on-ball defense, and people have been able to take it to the hole because the rotation hasn’t been there. Tonight we decided to play more zone and mix it up. We wanted to contain people more and force them to take more outside shots.

“They’re a young team. They have a new coach, and they’re trying to learn a new system. We thought if we could confuse a young team, it might help us.”

UCA couldn’t handle the pressure. The Sugar Bears committed 26 turnovers, only one less than the Cotton Blossoms’ 27.

UCA coach Matt Daniel said the changing of defenses didn’t really bother his team.

“We weren’t trying to figure out anything,” Daniel said. “I just wanted to be aggressive, whatever we did. What we had to figure out was how to attack the gaps, and we didn’t do a very good job of that.

“We weren’t ourselves, and our focus wasn’t there. When our focus isn’t there, it doesn’t matter who we play, we’re not very good.”

What resulted was a back-and-forth affair. After UCA opened up with a 4-0 lead, UAM responded with a 19-9 run to take a 19-13 lead on a Monica Perkins-Miller bucket with 10:48 remaining in the first half.

UCA fought back, gaining a 21-20 lead on a bucket by Meaghen Kelleybrew, but UAM outscored the Sugar Bears 11-9 down the stretch to take a 31-30 lead at the break.

“Give UCA some credit. They fought all night long,” Ratcliff said. “They just couldn’t knock down the shots.”

That wasn’t a problem the Blossoms had in the second half. In a period that saw 36-fouls called, UAM knocked in 11 of 14 free-throw attempts down the stretch to secure the victory.

UAM returns to action Dec. 29 when it travels to play Alabama-Huntsville in the North Alabama Classic in Florence, Ala.