A tough weekend in Louisiana for University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball wrapped up with a loss to the reigning SWAC champions on Saturday in Baton Rouge, as Southern University beat the Lady Lions 80-65 at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
Southern (10-8, 6-1 SWAC) shot 52.3% from the field and finished with 80 points, both season highs against Division I opponents. All 11 players for Southern scored, led by a season-high 19 points from sophomore forward DeMya Porter. Senior guard Olivia Delancy added 16 points, while sophomore guard Jocelyn Tate finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lady Jaguars scored 24 points off 17 UAPB turnovers and outscored the Lady Lions 50-26 in the paint.
UAPB (6-12, 3-5) opened the game with a pair of three-pointers to lead 6-3 after not making a shot from beyond the arc in Thursday’s loss at Grambling State. Southern responded with a 9-0 run and led the rest of the game.
The Lady Jaguars entered the day averaging 4.5 made three-pointers per game but buried five in the first quarter alone. Southern finished the day 6 of 16 from deep.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Lady Lions trailed 23-11 after the first quarter but cut the lead to 30-25 in the second quarter with a 12-2 run that included three-pointers from junior guard Indiya Bowen and sophomore guard Jayla Cornelius. Southern spent much of the game in a full-court press, but UAPB used the same strategy against the Lady Jaguars to fuel its comeback effort.
UAPB failed to finish the comeback after not scoring in the final 2:06 of the half. Southern finished the second quarter and started the third on an 8-0 run and kept its lead in double digits the rest of the game. The Lady Lions got as close as 77-65 with 1:02 remaining in fourth quarter but didn’t score again.
Bowen led UAPB with 15 points and eight rebounds. Cornelius finished with a season-high 14 points, and junior guard Jailah Pelly also scored 14.
The Lady Lions shot 40 percent from the field and made 7 of 15 from three-point range. UAPB finished 14 of 25 at the free throw line despite making its first seven attempts.
Southern’s 80 points tied Texas Southern for the most UAPB has allowed to a SWAC opponent this season. UAPB finished the weekend 0-2 on the road after going 2-0 at home last week.