For five years, Jackson State ran women’s basketball in the SWAC, while Alcorn State was an afterthought.
This season has seen those roles change, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will host the two Mississippi rivals this week as the Lady Lions seek to continue improving their place in the SWAC. The Lady Lions will host Jackson State at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, then host Alcorn State at 3 p.m. Saturday at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
UAPB (7-12, 4-5 SWAC) enters the week tied with Jackson State and Florida A&M for sixth in the SWAC standings, which second-year Coach Erica Leak said makes Thursday’s game a great opportunity to move up in the standings.
“We want to be in the top four going into the tournament, where we can just have those three games,” Leak said. “Jackson State, they’re a good team, but so are we, and I’m hoping that being at home with our fans and community there to give us the edge and the push that we need to win Thursday.”
All 12 SWAC teams will make the conference tournament this year, which will be held March 9-14 at Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta. The top six teams get byes to the quarterfinals, while lower-seeded teams would need to play four or five games to potentially win the SWAC title.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Jackson State (6-15, 4-5) isn’t accustomed to being in the middle of the pack after winning five straight SWAC regular season championships from 2020-24. The Lady Tigers won three of the four SWAC tournament titles awarded during that span.
Jackson State finished those regular seasons a combined 83-4 in SWAC play with two undefeated seasons, but that domination hasn’t continued since then-head coach Tomekia Reed left for Charlotte.
New coach Margaret Richards led Jackson State to a respectable 13-5 SWAC record last season, sending the Lady Tigers into the SWAC tournament as the No. 4 seed, their lowest since 2018. This year, though, Jackson State has already matched last year’s loss total and enters February with a losing conference record.
UAPB has lost 16 straight games against Jackson State but will have its best opportunity in years when the Lady Tigers come to Pine Bluff on Thursday.
Leak said she doesn’t treat any team differently based on its history and views this game as nothing more than another game the Lady Lions need to win.
“I’m the type of coach that just wants to beat everybody, and I just know that winning solves everything,” Leak said. “I’m not looking to your reputation or your jersey. We’re going in confident knowing who we are and what we’re establishing and building at UAPB.”
Alcorn State (10-9, 7-1) has been one of the surprise teams in the SWAC this year. The Lady Braves were picked sixth in the preseason poll and haven’t finished better than sixth since finishing fifth in 2020.
Now, they enter February in second place and on a five-game winning streak. Alcorn’s only loss was on the road against first-place Alabama A&M on Jan. 10.
Leak said Alcorn Coach Nate Kilbert, who led the Lady Braves to the SWAC title game last season before falling to Southern, always finds a way to get the best from his team.
“They just kind of figure out how to be gritty and play really, really hard,” Leak said. “I think those are the kinds of kids that he recruits. I mean, I’m not surprised. He was in the championship game last year, always competitive. That’s just what I expect out of him.”
Graduate student Nakia Cheatham and senior Kiarra Henderson have led Alcorn’s resurgence. In SWAC play, Cheatham is averaging 7.9 rebounds per game, fourth most in the league.
She is Alcorn’s leading scorer with 11.4 points per game. Henderson’s 5.1 assists per game and 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio are both SWAC bests.