Despite the 0-5 record for the Arkansas Pine Bluff’s women’s basketball team, coach Cary Shelton said the team is learning a lot during the UAPB’s eight-game road trip to open the season.
The first area that came to Shelton’s mind was that the Lady Lions have experienced a lot of defensive pressure.
“The girls are learning how to make adjustments and cutting, securing the ball,” Shelton said. “We only turned the ball over five times in the second half against Ole Miss. I told the girls after the game, if we had done that in the first half, the game would have been a lot closer.”
Shelton was referring to the team’s 83-52 defeat on Tuesday night, the last time UAPB took the floor. At 2 p.m. today, the Lady Lions take the court again in Milwaukee, Wis., for a matchup with Marquette.
With the Golden Eagles, UAPB faces the fourth team from a top-six conference this year. In the team’s five losses, the Lady Lions have been outscored by an average of 86-45.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Still, Shelton thinks his team matches up well against Marquette.
“Marquette is a big team,” Shelton said, in reference to the Eagles’ height. “We feel like we can match up with them, but we have to keep them off the boards, do a better job holding box outs and get up and down in transition.”
Shelton also made sure to point out that junior guard Lakendra Marsh of Smackover has been the team’s best player to this point in the season.
Against Marquette, Marsh and the Lady Lions will look for continued improvement.