As the Arkansas-Pine Bluff women’s basketball team continues its eight-game road trip to begin the season, the Lady Lions travel to No. 10-ranked Kentucky for a noon contest today.
The Lady Wildcats enter today’s game on what UAPB coach Cary Shelton called an emotional high, as Kentucky’s previous game was a 72-65 win over No. 5 Duke on Thursday night. For that game, Kentucky won its 29th straight nonconference home game.
Shelton’s team will try to keep that streak from reaching 30.
“We’ll match up with Kentucky,” Shelton said of his team’s chances today. “They are coming off a big win against Duke, and are probably emotionally high. They’re playing pretty good. We have our work cut out for us.”
Part of the Lady Lions’ struggles this year have been related to offense, where the team has scored just 43 points per game. On the other end, the Lady Lions have allowed at least 80 points in each game of the season.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Shelton said the timing of the offense has been “off,” something he thinks will soon be fixed.
“Our timing has been off offensively,” Shelton said. “We’re trying to find who the best team for us is. We’d like to have five scorers on the floor at the same time, but there’s only one ball.”
The Lady Lions enter each with set figures for statistics, according to Shelton. UAPB’s ideal game would be to minimize turnovers to about 15, grab 50 rebounds and record at least 15 assists.
Against Kentucky, the Lady Lions will put emphasis on controlling the pace of play, which Shelton said is a key to the game.
“We just have to control the tempo,” Shelton said. “Being on the road is difficult, and we have to (avoid) turning the ball over. We have to put pressure on Kentucky.”
The coach continued to say that Kentucky will look to push the tempo, but at the same time is proficient in their half-court sets.
Another thing Shelton will be looking for his team to improve on is not giving their opponents so many free throw opportunities. In UAPB’s previous game, an 84-36 loss to Marquette, the Golden Eagles made 31 of 41 free throw attempts.
UAPB has lost each of its first six games, with the closest decision coming in an 89-60 loss to Memphis. With today’s game, the Lady Lions face their third test from an SEC team.