A season high from junior forward Khaniah Gardner wasn’t enough for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team on Saturday.
UAPB fell 79-71 to Alabama State at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome in Montgomery, Ala., for its second straight loss.
Gardner finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double this season. Junior guard Jasmine Davis also scored 20 points, 1 point shy of her season best.
UAPB (9-14, 6-7) shot 34.2 percent from the field but couldn’t slow down the Lady Hornets, who shot 50 percent. Graduate guard Taylor Smith led with 20 points, while junior forward Charlese McClendon added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Alabama State (12-12, 9-4) led 20-14 after the first quarter. UAPB cut it to 32-31 at halftime after finishing the second quarter on a 13-4 run with Gardner scoring the final 2 points of the half 1:05 before the break.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Freshman forward Tyra Taylor gave UAPB its first lead 32 seconds into the second half, but UAPB never held a lead greater than 1 point. The sixth lead change of the third quarter came when ASU junior guard Shamya Reed hit a 3-pointer with 5:36 remaining in the period. The Lady Hornets led the rest of the game and outscored UAPB 22-21 in the fourth.
UAPB’s loss came despite one of the Lady Lions’ best games protecting the ball. UAPB turned the ball over 13 times, tied for its second-lowest turnover total this season. The Lady Lions grabbed 12 steals and scored 29 points off ASU turnovers.
This loss drops UAPB into a three-way tie with Jackson State and Florida A&M for sixth place in the SWAC.