Early foul trouble hampered the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team on Saturday.
Texas Southern took advantage to defeat UAPB 80-57 at H&PE Arena in Houston as the Lady Lions wrapped up their two-game road trip to Texas.
UAPB (4-10, 1-3 SWAC) junior guards Jailah Pelly and Indiya Bowen, the team’s leading scorers this season, spent much of the first half on the bench in foul trouble. Pelly played 4 minutes in the first half, while Bowen played 7.
Pelly committed two fouls in the first two minutes of the game. She later picked up her third foul with 2:27 remaining in the first quarter and immediately exited the game, not to return until the 6:41 mark of the third quarter. She ultimately fouled out with 7:12 remaining in the game.
Bowen committed two fouls in the first quarter and played just 5 seconds in the second. She started the second half but committed her third foul 7 seconds in and had to sit again.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Pelly finished the game with 3 points and four turnovers in 14 minutes. Bowen finished with 10 points and three rebounds in 22 minutes.
As they struggled, junior guard Jasmine Davis stepped up with a season-high 21 points and six rebounds, with 15 of those points coming in the first half. This was her first game playing from the bench this season.
Freshman forward Tyra Taylor added 10 points. She made her fifth start of the year two days after scoring a career-high 17 at Prairie View A&M.
Texas Southern (7-9, 3-1) senior guard Jordyn Marshall crushed her previous season high, scoring 29 points after making 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range and shooting 8 of 8 from the free throw line. She came into the game averaging 6.3 points. Her previous high was 15 points two days prior against Mississippi Valley State.
TSU sophomore Taliyah Logwood added 15 points and six rebounds, while graduate student Daeja Holmes scored 14 points.
UAPB trailed by as much as 37-22 in the second quarter, but Davis led a comeback over the final 4:14. She hit a jumper at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 39-32 at halftime, getting the Lady Lions back in the game.
It didn’t last. TSU held UAPB to two made field goals in the third quarter and dominated the second half 41-25. The Lady Tigers shot 45.8 percent from the field and 20 of 22 from the free throw line.
The Lady Lions finished with two assists and 18 turnovers. They finished 38.9 percent from the field despite shooting 52 percent in the first half. UAPB made 2 of 10 from 3-point range and 13 of 19 from the line.