After falling short this past Monday, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will get its star back from injury this weekend.
UAPB women’s basketball guard Zaay Green will return for a 2 p.m. Saturday game at Alabama State and a 5 p.m. Monday game at Alabama A&M.
Green missed UAPB’s 72-56 loss to Jackson State with a left knee injury. Green, now wearing a knee brace, said it was heartbreaking having to miss the game, but her knee feels better now.
“It just was a little swollen, that’s all,” Green said. “You know, I had surgery on it last year, so, stuff like that just happens with ACL.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB coach Dawn Thornton said Green will play with no restrictions, but center Maori Davenport will miss her second straight weekend after suffering a concussion Feb. 5 against Prairie View A&M. Thornton said Davenport should return next weekend when UAPB next plays at home.
JSU’s win in Pine Bluff likely means the Lady Tigers will win a fourth straight regular season SWAC championship, but second place remains available.
UAPB (13-11, 8-3 SWAC) enters the weekend tied with Grambling State for second. Southern is one game behind the pair, with Florida A&M one game behind Southern. UAPB controls the tiebreakers with all three and won’t play any of them again in the regular season.
In fact, other than a March 7 rematch with Jackson State in Mississippi, the Lady Lions’ remaining schedule consists of six of the bottom seven teams in the standings.
Thornton said the Lady Lions are in a good spot as long as they keep winning.
“Every game counts,” Thornton said. “Losing to Texas Southern and then losing to Bethune[-Cookman], those games, I’m praying that they don’t come back to haunt us. But I still like where we are. I think we’re in a great position. We’ve done a really good job of locking in, doing the things that we need to do, and so I’m excited about that.”
UAPB’s next two opponents feature the only SWAC players averaging 10 or more rebounds per game.
Alabama State (3-19, 3-8) is led by senior forward Cordasia Harris, who averages 10.3 rebounds and 11.7 points per game. She has the league’s second-best shooting percentage, 48.7 percent, and is tied with UAPB center Maya Peat for third-most blocked shots. Harris scored 11 points with 14 rebounds in January when UAPB defeated Alabama State 85-52.
Alabama A&M (10-13, 5-6) leads the SWAC in offensive rebounds with 14.7 per game, just ahead of UAPB’s 14.6. Junior forward Alisha Wilson leads the league with 10.9 rebounds per game and scored 14 points with six rebounds in the Lady Bulldogs’ 75-67 loss in Pine Bluff in the SWAC opener.
Thornton said UAPB handled Harris and Wilson well in January, but she has talked to her team about not relaxing just because the Lady Lions won the first time.
“Both of them have gotten better since the early part of January,” Thornton said. “We’re seeing better basketball being played in February right now. We just have to do the things that we need to do defensively to kind of disrupt them from getting in the flow of what they want to do.”
With Davenport out, UAPB will rely on Peat and Azaria Robinson in the post against Harris and Wilson. Peat is averaging 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per SWAC game. Robinson had 10 points and 12 rebounds against JSU.