A pair of strong individual efforts weren’t enough for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Thursday night.
The UAPB women’s basketball team fell 73-59 to Texas Southern at H&PE Arena in Houston to open a three-game road stretch, the last one of the season.
UAPB (3-21, 1-13 SWAC) guard D’Arrah Allen led all scorers with 25 points, 1 point shy of tying her season high. Forward Stephanie Okowi scored a season-high 18 with nine rebounds. Her previous scoring high was 13.
Allen and Okowi were among just five Lady Lions to score, with no other player exceeding 7 points. Texas Southern (13-12, 12-2) had nine scorers, led by guards Courtlyn Loudermill with 18 points and Aylasia Fantroy with 14.
The Lady Tigers took advantage of their 17 offensive rebounds by outscoring UAPB 17-4 on second-chance points despite the Lady Lions collecting 12 offensive rebounds.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB led 15-12 after the first quarter thanks to three 3-pointers from Allen, but the Lady Lions shot 3 of 8 from deep the rest of game and finished the night 37.5 percent from the field compared to TSU’s 44.4 percent.
TSU took the lead with a 12-0 run early in the second quarter and never gave it back. UAPB got as close as 40-38 with 6:15 to play in the third quarter, but TSU answered with a 9-0 run to extend its lead to double digits for the first time.
A 9-2 UAPB run to end the third got the lead down to 51-47, but TSU put the game away by starting the fourth on a 10-2 run.
Across town, Prairie View A&M defeated Mississippi Valley State 57-50. That result means UAPB must beat the Lady Panthers on the road on Saturday, or the Lady Lions will be eliminated from SWAC tournament contention.