A huge lead nearly evaporated Thursday night, but the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff held on to beat a women’s basketball team it hadn’t in eight years.
UAPB outlasted Jackson State 74-68 Thursday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena despite a furious fourth-quarter comeback effort. UAPB had lost 16 straight games against the Lady Tigers, previously winning 66-60 on the road in 2018. UAPB’s last home win over Jackson State was in 2016.
Junior guard Indiya Bowen said the Lady Lions desperately wanted to end that streak.
“We was just like, ‘You know what, we really want to get this,'” Bowen said. “Everybody had a war mentality. We all bought in, and that’s what kept the momentum going, kept us up.”
UAPB (8-12, 5-5 SWAC) never trailed, scoring moments after winning the opening tip. The Lady Lions led by as much as 59-35 with 1:57 remaining in the third quarter and seemed set to cruise to an easy win.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Jackson State (6-16, 4-6) didn’t go away, instead dominating the fourth quarter 24-12. The Lady Tigers didn’t shoot at a high clip but dominated the glass, outrebounding UAPB 21-6 in the final period. That included a 10-1 edge on the offensive end, giving Jackson State extra chances to cut into the UAPB lead.
The Lady Lions had led by double digits since the 1:49 mark of the first quarter, but Jackson State got it down to 72-62 on a three-pointer by senior guard Jaileyah Cotton with 2:56 remaining. She added a layup 28 seconds later to get her team back within single digits.
Graduate center Mikayla Brown got the lead down to 72-68 with 33 seconds remaining.
UAPB Coach Erica Leak said after her team had used its full-court press to speed up the Lady Tigers, Jackson State returned the favor in the second half.
“I was still trying to get the ball in (junior guard Jailah) Pelly’s hand and let her control the situation, but again, they had two people on her,” Leak said. “I think that was the key, and then, once we finally broke through the pressure, we were speeding up on our offense, and we were missing. We were not converting, so the change was, slow down, stop. We’re going to run our stuff.”
Poor free throw shooting from UAPB aided the Jackson State comeback. The Lady Lions made 3 of 10 in the fourth, but junior guard Jasmine Davis made two with 27 seconds left. UAPB got back-to-back stops to halt the comeback and close out its second straight win and third straight at home. UAPB finished 12 of 26 at the line.
Jackson State turnovers helped UAPB build its big lead. The Lady Tigers turned the ball over 25 times, the most by a SWAC team against UAPB this season. Only Arkansas Baptist turned it over more times (29). The Lady Lions turned those takeaways into 28 points.
Leak said UAPB is establishing its defensive identity as a full-court pressing team.
“We’re going to make you play full court for 40 minutes,” Leak said. “We want to disrupt rhythm and take people out of their comfort zones, and that’s what we did. I’m very proud of our girls being able to capitalize on the traps and being in the right spots to get deflections and, ultimately, steals and layups.”
Bowen led UAPB with 18 points. Davis scored 12, while Pelly scored 11 and freshman Jakyra Jackson scored 10.
UAPB shot 49.1% from the field. The Lady Lions shot 62.5% in the first quarter and 50% in the second but cooled off in the second half.
Jackson State senior guard Rhema Pegues led the Lady Tigers with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Three other Lady Tigers scored in double figures, including Brown with 13 points and 11 rebounds.