After falling short on the road last weekend, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team will look to bounce back at home.
The Lady Lions host Texas Southern at noon Saturday at H.O. Clemmons Arena, then Prairie View A&M at 3 p.m. Monday in their first SWAC home games of the season.
UAPB (2-10, 0-2 SWAC) is coming off a pair of losses in its first two conference games in Alabama. These games were the first SWAC games in the careers of many of the Lady Lions.
Junior guard D’Arrah Allen, UAPB’s leading scorer with 12.1 points per game, said her first impression of the SWAC was how aggressive the other teams play.
“They play with heart,” Allen said. “They play, like I said, very aggressive. I feel like for me, not being in the SWAC (before), it was just a taste of how I feel like the whole conference will be. So, nothing I’m not used to. Just an adjustment me and the team have to make in order to get some (wins).”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Despite the losses, the Lady Lions finished the road trip well.
UAPB has not shot the ball well most of the season, entering this weekend’s action shooting 31.4% from the floor. The Lady Lions shot well below that in the first half against Alabama A&M and trailed 37-15 at halftime.
But the Lady Lions shot 45.4% in the second half and outscored Alabama A&M 37-29, with a 20-13 fourth quarter.
First-year coach Erica Leak said the Lady Lions executed much better in the second half, and she wants that to carry over into this weekend’s games.
“We just have to do that from the start,” Leak said. “We’ve been working a lot individually on just skill set, get to the basket and knocking down shots. We’ve been putting a lot of time and effort into individual skill set. When we do come back together, holistically, then we can just put it all together.”
UAPB will be shorthanded for the rest of the season. Freshman guard Janiyah Tucker, who was the team’s leading scorer with 13.2 points per game, and junior guard Jazmyn Sostand are no longer with the program, Leak said. Neither has played since the Dec. 1 home game against North Alabama, in which Tucker led the team with 14 points.
Saturday’s opponent, Texas Southern (3-10, 2-0), surprised many this past weekend by upsetting the top two teams in the SWAC’s preseason poll, Grambling State and Southern, despite entering conference play without a Division I victory. The Lady Tigers shot 41.4 percent from the field while holding their opponents to 33.3%.
Graduate student guard Courtlyn Loudermill leads Texas Southern with 13.2 points per game, including a 17-point outing against Grambling. Sophomore guard Aylasia Fantroy follows with 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and has scored in double digits in six of TSU’s past seven games.
Prairie View A&M (3-8, 0-2) has the second-best shooting percentage in the SWAC, 39.6%, but shot just 28.9% in their first two conference games. Freshman guard Chrystal Schultz, despite not starting a game this season, leads Prairie View with 10.2 points per game.
Leak said UAPB needs to execute on defense to keep the Lady Panthers in check.
“I think if we just stay in front of the basketball, pressure the ball, play our style of defense, I think we’ll be fine,” Leak said. “They’re trying to get downhill. Our strategy is just to stay in front of the basketball, be in the gaps and do what we do.”