Four SWAC women’s basketball games will be played in the Houston area this weekend, and each holds major significance for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The Lady Lions will face Texas Southern at 6 p.m. Thursday at H&PE Arena in Houston, then Prairie View A&M at 2 p.m. Saturday at the William J. Nicks Building in Prairie View, Texas. Each game will be streamed on the host schools’ respective YouTube channels.
Mississippi Valley State (4-20, 3-10 SWAC) will also face the Texas schools this weekend in a pair of games that could impact UAPB.
Texas Southern (12-12, 11-2) was alone in first place a week ago, but a pair of losses in Louisiana last week dropped the Lady Tigers into a three-way tie with Southern and Jackson State atop the SWAC standings. TSU will be looking to bounce back as it chases the regular season championship.
The other three teams are trying to secure a spot in the SWAC Women’s Basketball Tournament next month in Atlanta.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Entering Thursday, UAPB (3-20, 1-12) sits in last place, two games behind Prairie View and Valley, who are tied for 10th. With 10 teams earning a spot in Atlanta, the Lady Lions need to catch and pass both the Lady Panthers and the Devilettes.
Considering Prairie View (6-16, 3-10) hosts Valley on Thursday, either Prairie View or Valley is guaranteed an additional win. This means UAPB will need a minimum of three wins in its final five games to potentially finish tied for 10th or four wins to have a shot at finishing in the top 10 outright, assuming Prairie View and Valley lose out.
After this weekend, the Lady Lions will travel to Valley then wrap up the regular season at home with Jackson State and Alcorn State.
UAPB coach Erica Leak said the coaches and players are often discussing what it will take to make it to the tournament.
“They know what’s at stake,” Leak said. “I thought they played Alabama State really tough with that in mind. Definitely should have pulled that one out. Now, it just makes it even harder. You win that game, you’re talking about win two of the five. Now, we just made it harder for ourselves, but it’s not impossible. That’s the message. It’s not impossible.”
Most likely, UAPB needs to beat Prairie View and Valley with at least one other victory. Since UAPB beat Valley the first time the teams met, any win will secure a potential head-to-head tiebreaker with the Devilettes. Since Prairie View won 68-61 in Pine Bluff, UAPB would need to win by 8 points or more to secure the head-to-head.
This also means it is in UAPB’s best interest if Valley beats Prairie View. If the Lady Panthers go 2-0 this week, UAPB will be eliminated from tournament contention.
The Lady Lions left Tuesday for Houston, a day earlier than usual, to make sure Tuesday night’s winter weather didn’t delay their arrival. Practice time has been spent preparing for TSU, but Leak said the Lady Lions are already scouting Prairie View knowing how important that game will be.
“We’ve already played them once, so we know what they can do,” Leak said. “It’s not like it’s our first time seeing them, so we have a good grip on them, and we are prepared.”
If UAPB is going to go on a late-season run to reach Atlanta, the already short-handed Lady Lions will likely need to do so without one of their normal starters.
Leak said guard Kristyna Boyd is likely out for the season. She suffered a back injury roughly 2 minutes into last week’s game against Alabama A&M when Lady Bulldog guard Aniya Palmer fell on her while reaching for a rebound. Boyd exited the game about a minute later and did not return, then missed Saturday’s game against Alabama State.
Boyd has been cleared by the doctors but is still in some pain, Leak said, so she wants to be cautious with the junior from Memphis who averages 8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.