One last home game awaits the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff today, and the Lady Lions are looking to take a winning streak into next week’s road trip.
The UAPB women’s basketball team plays Mississippi Valley State at 3 p.m. at H.O. Clemmons Arena for senior night.
UAPB coach Dawn Thornton said this final home game is an important one.
“We are working on things that we need to focus and lock in for the tournament,” Thornton said. “That’s us playing our best basketball going into March. We understand that you don’t overlook any of your opponents, because again, Valley has played with the best of them, even as close as they played versus Grambling, so we know that they’re a great team.”
UAPB (15-13, 10-5 SWAC) clinched a trip to the SWAC women’s basketball tournament with last Monday’s 81-62 home win against Texas Southern. The Lady Lions’ final three regular-season games will decide seeding. They enter the weekend in third place, half a game ahead of Southern and a game and a half behind Grambling State.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB is preparing for this game to be its third with a new lineup that debuted last weekend with several players out. Thornton said Wednesday that guard Zaay Green will return soon but wasn’t sure if she would play today.
MVSU (4-24, 3-12) is on the brink of being mathematically eliminated from the SWAC tournament, but the Devilettes have been competitive in their past three games. They lost 69-63 at home Monday to Prairie View A&M but had won two-straight games before that, a 67-59 road win at Alabama State and a 71-65 home victory against Texas Southern, their only home win this season.
Thornton said MVSU coach Kimberly Anderson has kept the Devilettes playing hard despite their record.
“For them to be able to still play with a chip on their shoulder, really still knowing their identity, how they gonna defend and get you to turn the ball over, force you to turn it over, it’s just one of those things where, that’s a hard job to do to get them to continue to play and push through, and that’s what they’ve been doing all season long,” Thornton said. “I know that they’re gonna want to come here and get a win on the road.”
MVSU guard Sh’Diamond McKnight is the reigning SWAC impact player of the week after scoring 31 points and collecting 12 rebounds in the Devilettes’ win against Texas Southern. She leads the team with 13.5 points per game. She also leads with 92 assists and 82 steals.
The Lady Lions held her to 5 points and 5 rebounds in UAPB’s 76-60 win at MVSU on Feb. 3. Thornton said UAPB will need to defend her the way it did before, and she has been emphasizing knowing where McKnight is during practice.
“When you have a kid that can score and have a 30-point game, you don’t really see much other stat lines being filled up, but she gets steals,” Thornton said. “She’s on the floor for 50-50 balls. She’s rebounding. This kid is a first or second team all-conference player. If they don’t give that to her, if they don’t vote for that for her, then that’s really disappointing. But she’s the real deal.”