COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Smiles outnumbered tears during the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s final postgame news conference of the season Friday night.
“I am really, really proud to make the semifinals,” women’s basketball coach Erica Leak said. “We finished in the top four, final four of our conference. We were picked preseason to finish 11th. Just winning one conference game last year, one Division I game last year, to what, 15, 16? So, head held high, please. I’m not going to let them be down for long.”
After finishing last in the SWAC during Leak’s debut season, UAPB reached the semifinals of the SWAC tournament in the Greater Atlanta area last week.
UAPB finished tied for fifth place but entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed due to tiebreakers. The Lady Lions defeated No. 9-seed Mississippi Valley State 81-74, then knocked off No. 2-seed Alcorn State 64-60 before falling 72-59 to No. 3-seed Alabama State on Friday.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Lady Lions finished the season 15-16 with a 10-8 SWAC record, an improvement of 12 wins overall and nine wins in conference play from a season ago. UAPB won more games in the SWAC tournament alone than it won against Division I competition all of last season.
Junior forward Khaniah Gardner said she will take how she felt after Friday’s semifinal loss into next season as the Lady Lions look to come back stronger.
“I want to give a huge shoutout to my team,” Gardner said. “We had a lot of adversity, a lot of ups and downs. We fought through a lot to get here. I couldn’t ask for a better team to play with this year. We’re almost there, so, we’ll be back.”
Gardner was one of four juniors in UAPB’s typical starting lineup, joining guards Jailah Pelly, Jasmine Davis and Indiya Bowen. Senior center Briontanay Marshall was the lone senior in the starting five. The only other seniors on the roster were forward Briah Hampton and guard Kristyna Boyd, who played limited roles due to injury.
The rest of the roster consisted of two sophomores and six freshmen. Freshman forward Tyra Taylor started nine games, and freshman guard Jakyra Jackson averaged 5.4 points while playing 19.8 minutes per game off the bench.
The transfer portal will open after the NCAA women’s basketball tournament concludes, and one of Leak’s first priorities in the offseason will be keeping as many of these players on campus as she can. Assuming she succeeds in keeping them, she said carrying over the experience from this season will be “a beautiful thing.”
“We’re not rebuilding,” Leak said. “We’re reloading. With these four, my four juniors coming back, we’re going to build around them and get some other pieces in here alongside them. We’re going to be ready to roll. We know what we need, but we coming with a lot. We’re just going to add a few more pieces.”
UAPB finished fifth in the SWAC in scoring offense and eighth in scoring defense. Bowen, who was named SWAC Newcomer of the Year, finished as the league’s leading scorer.
The trip to the semifinals was UAPB’s third in the past four years after reaching that round twice under prior coach Dawn Thornton. The Lady Lions had to rebuild last season after Thornton’s departure and a flurry of transfer portal exits left UAPB with three players on the roster by the time it hired Leak, but she got UAPB back to the semifinals this year after just one year away.
Leak said this year’s team was easy to coach and remains committed to improving.
“We’re just getting started,” Leak said. “Their first year here. My first year here. So, we’re very young in this SWAC. So many beautiful teams, and it has been such a joyous tournament to be a part of. I’m just glad that my girls could represent UAPB, Dear Mother that we love so much with class.”