Junior guard D’Arrah Allen set a new personal best Thursday afternoon, but it wasn’t enough to beat her former team.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team dropped its final non-conference game of the season 70-62 to the University of Texas at El Paso in the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
Allen, who transferred to UAPB in the offseason after not playing last year with UTEP, scored 26 points on 8 of 17 shooting, her highest-scoring performance at the Division I level. She made 4 of 9 attempts from 3-point range and made 6 of 8 free throws.
This was Allen’s second game back after missing five with a thumb injury. Her previous best was 19 points against Tulsa in the second game of the season.
Fellow junior Kristyna Boyd was the only other UAPB (2-8) player to reach double digits. She scored 10 points with eight rebounds. The team’s leading scorer, freshman Janiyah Tucker, missed her second straight game.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Lady Lions led 55-51 with 7:17 remaining after a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Uriah Jennings, but UTEP (6-4) answered with a 13-2 run to take the lead for good. A 3-pointer from Allen with 20 seconds remaining was the only field goal UAPB made after Jennings’ shot.
UAPB outrebounded UTEP 41-26, including a 15-6 advantage on the offensive glass. The Lady Lions feasted on second-chance points 11-4.
UTEP returned the favor in the turnover battle, outscoring UAPB 22-13 off turnovers. The Lady Lions turned the ball over 22 times to UTEP’s 13.
Junior guard Portia Adams led the Miners with 17 points, while senior guard Ivane Tensaie and sophomore forward Luisa Vydrove scored 12 apiece. Senior guard Delma Zita scored 10.
The Lady Lions’ 62 points were their most against a Division I foe this season, a great response to scoring 15 points on 10.9-percent shooting Monday night at Hawaii. UAPB shot 38.2 percent against UTEP.
UAPB shed Monday’s shooting woes right away, making six of its first eight shots to take an early 13-5 lead in the first quarter. Jailah Pelly beat the first quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer to give the Lady Lions an 18-17 edge, meaning it took one quarter to beat Monday’s output.
Despite UAPB having its second-best shooting percentage of the season, the Lady Lions finished non-conference play without a Division I victory for the first time since the 2019-20 season, which was previous head coach Dawn Thornton’s first year.