After a successful week at home, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team is spending the weekend in Texas.
UAPB will face Sam Houston State at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas. The Lady Lions will then head to Dallas to play SMU at Moody Coliseum at 7 p.m. Monday.
The Sam Houston State game will be streamed on ESPN+, while ACC Network Extra will have the SMU game.
UAPB (2-3) is coming off a 2-0 week at home against NAIA competition. The Lady Lions held both opponents under 40 points and made a combined 40 steals. They did not have that same type of defensive success in their first three games on the road, combining for just 14 steals against Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Ole Miss.
Leading scorer D’Arrah Allen missed both games with a thumb sprain but is expected to return to the lineup Saturday. She averaged 10.7 points per game in UAPB’s first three contests, including two against Power Four competition. Sophomore guard Jailah Pelly stepped up with 18 points against Texas A&M-Texarkana and is averaging 9.2. She leads the team with 14 assists.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
First-year UAPB coach Erica Leak said the Lady Lions have played to the level of their competition so far. While that wasn’t a good thing against NAIA foes, she said she hopes it translates to a better showing in Texas.
“You just think about Tulsa,” Leak said. “I’m looking to see how we competed against Tulsa when that was the big game. We know what we running into, so hopefully, our focus will be a little bit better and little bit more intentional going to Texas.”
Sam Houston State (3-2) is 3-0 at home this season, though two of those games were against non-Division I opponents. The Bearkats defeated Seattle 69-57 on Nov. 9 with a season-high 50 percent shooting performance.
All three Division I teams SHSU has faced have shot 44.7 percent or better, a welcome sight for a UAPB team shooting 32.8 percent on average this season.
Junior guard Kaila Kelley leads the Bearkats with 13.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, followed by junior forward Deborah Ogayemi with 13 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
SMU (3-3) is coming off a 56-54 overtime win against Lamar. The Mustangs are 3-1 in Dallas so far during their debut season as an ACC member, with all games coming against Division I foes, including HBCU squad North Carolina A&T.
Junior guard Nya Robertson leads SMU with 23 points per game, followed by senior forward Chantae Embry with 13.2.
The Lady Lions defeated SMU 78-76 in Dallas last season.