With less than a second remaining in Saturday’s game, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff junior guard Indiya Bowen stepped to the free throw line with a chance to win the game.
Bowen made a pair to give the UAPB women’s basketball team a 68-66 win against Mississippi Valley State at the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex in Itta Bena, Miss.
UAPB (7-12, 4-5 SWAC) trailed 66-64 until freshman forward Tyra Taylor hit a jumper to tie the game with 1:03 remaining. UAPB got a stop with 29.9 seconds remaining, giving the Lady Lions a chance to hold for the final shot.
The Lady Lions missed two jumpers in the final seconds, but UAPB secured offensive rebounds until the ball was knocked out of bounds by the Devilettes. The officials initially put 0.6 of a second on the clock but changed it to 1.2 after a review.
MVSU sophomore guard Jaeda Murphy fouled Bowen on a three-pointer from the corner with 0.5 of a second remaining. Bowen missed the first free throw but made the next two to give UAPB its first lead since 30-28 in the second quarter.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Devilettes (4-15, 3-5) called a timeout to advance the ball into the front court, but UAPB junior guard Jasmine Davis stole the inbounds pass to secure UAPB’s third fourth-quarter comeback road win this season.
Bowen finished with a game-high 21 points after making 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Davis added 14 points, while Taylor finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Jailah Pelly scored 11 points with a game-high five steals.
The game featured nine lead changes and six ties, most of those in the first half. Bowen hit two free throws with 2:50 remaining in the second quarter to give UAPB a 30-28 lead, but Valley answered with a 6-0 run and led 37-32 at halftime.
The Devilettes grew their lead to 52-38 late in the third quarter, but UAPB closed that period on a 9-0 run, which included a Bowen three-pointer just before the quarter ended. She added a layup early in the fourth to cut the deficit to 52-49.
MVSU senior guard Janiya Jones ended the run at 11-0 with a three-pointer. She made another later in the quarter after UAPB had cut the deficit to 55-54. Jones finished the game 3 of 6 from beyond the arc on a day the Devilettes made six three-pointers, their third-most in a game this season.
UAPB had several chances to take the lead down the stretch but failed to make a shot in those moments until Taylor’s game-tying jumper. The Lady Lions shot 35.7% from the field and made 15 of 20 free throws to make up for a 3-of-21 day beyond the three-point arc.
Graduate student forward Ariel Jefferson led Valley with 18 points and 10 rebounds, most of that in the first half. Graduate center Nairobi Lewis added 14 points, while Jones and Murphy each scored 11.