The start of December brought one of the coldest-shooting performances of the season for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Sunday.
The UAPB women’s basketball team fell 62-48 to North Alabama at H.O. Clemmons Arena in the Lady Lions’ last non-conference home game.
Head coach Erica Leak said UAPB took some quick shots and UNA turned UAPB’s misses into points on the other end.
“We got a huge deficit in the second quarter, and we had to dig ourselves out of a hole,” Leak said. “I thought we were trying in the third, got some momentum in the fourth, but too little, too late.”
UAPB (2-6) shot 27.1% from the field, made 3 of 12 3-point attempts and shot 13 of 24 from the free throw line.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB’s 48 points tied its lowest output against a non-Power Four opponent this season. The Lady Lions scored that same number at Sam Houston State. Only Ole Miss held UAPB to a lower shooting percentage this season.
The Lady Lions entered the game shooting a SWAC-best 73.5% from the free throw line but shot 54.2% against UNA, dropping their percentage to second-best behind Alabama A&M.
Leak said she regrets telling her players they were leading the conference.
“It just went to their head,” Leak said. “We missed a ton. If we’d have made just our free throws in the first half, it could have been a different situation. Again, just gotta lock in and do the little things better.”
North Alabama (4-3) held UAPB to 9 points in the first quarter and 8 in the second, seeing UNA take a 33-17 lead into halftime.
The Lady Lions improved their scoring in the second half, thanks in part to better free throw shooting. UAPB made 7 of 10 from the line and shot 30.8% from the field in the fourth quarter and outscored UNA 16-12, but the deficit was too great to make up.
UAPB’s full-court press didn’t make much of an impact in the first half but was more noticeable in the second. UAPB finished with nine steals and won the turnover battle 21-15. The Lady Lions scored 18 points off turnovers.
Junior guard Kristyna Boyd said UAPB feels comfortable pressing but needs to be more consistent with it.
“Being aggressive the entire time is something that we have to work on,” Boyd said. “As aggressive as we are at the end of the game, we need to have that intensity … at the beginning.”
UAPB guard D’Arrah Allen missed her fifth-straight game with a thumb injury and has yet to play at home. She was the Lady Lions’ leading scorer through the first three games, which included a 19-point showing at Tulsa. Leak said she expects Allen back for the next game at Hawaii on Dec. 16.
In her absence, freshman guard Janiyah Tucker led UAPB with 14 points and five steals. Boyd finished with 12 points.
North Alabama didn’t have the same offensive struggles. UNA shot 42.1% and made 7 of 20 3-point attempts.
Junior guard Alyssa Clutter led with 14 points and 11 rebounds, followed by junior guard Sarang West with 11 points.