The home winning streak continued Saturday as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team dominated the paint.
UAPB defeated Prairie View A&M 81-56 for its sixth straight win at H.O. Clemmons Arena. UAPB (11-14, 8-7 SWAC) outscored the Lady Panthers 58-14 in the paint and outrebounded them 51-32. Junior forward Khaniah Gardner led with 17 points and 11 rebounds, collecting her third double-double this season.
The inside dominance was the most pronounced in the first half. UAPB went into halftime having more offensive rebounds, 12, than Prairie View had total rebounds, 10.
UAPB Coach Erica Leak said Gardner has become a go-to player in the paint.
“The beast has come alive, and she is dominating the paint,” Leak said. “So, we feed her. We feed the hot hand. We think it’s a matchup issue and go to work. She’s just capitalizing on it, and again, it’s her confidence.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB’s attack was balanced with five players scoring in double figures. Freshman guard Jakyra Jackson scored a season-high 14 points, with junior guard Jailah Pelly adding 14. Junior guard Indiya Bowen scored 13, while junior guard Jasmine Davis finished with 10.
The Lady Lions finished with more assists, 20, than the Lady Panthers made shots, 18. Those 20 assists were UAPB’s third-most in a game this season. Jackson led with five assists, with Pelly, Davis and Bowen dishing four apiece.
Jackson said the Lady Lions communicate on the court and play with a lot of energy.
“We try to get everybody going,” Jackson said. “Just trying to have fun and get everybody started to have a good game.”
For Prairie View (2-24, 0-15), sophomore guard Crystal Schultz led all scorers with 20 points. She and sophomore guard CJ Wilson, Prairie View’s top two scorers this season, didn’t play when these teams met in Prairie View, Texas, last month. Wilson finished with 11, while freshman guard Alana Shields scored 10.
UAPB shot 46.5 percent from the field en route to setting a new season-high in points against a Division I opponent. Prairie View finished the game shooting 34 percent.
Prairie View started well, taking an early 7-2 lead before UAPB fought back. The Lady Panthers made three of their first five three-pointers, with junior guard Jacque Giron hitting one to tie the game at 13 with 4:28 to play in the first quarter.
UAPB answered with a 13-0 run and led the rest of the game. Gardner contributed eight points to the run, which stretched into the second quarter before Schultz ended the Lady Panthers’ drought with a three-pointer.
Schultz made another 1:04 later as part of a stretch which saw both teams combine for five straight three-pointers. Davis and Bowen countered Schultz’s two with a combined three.
The deep shot dried up the rest of the half, and UAPB took a 45-26 lead into halftime. Prairie View stopped the bleeding in the third quarter, outscoring UAPB 18-15, but UAPB put the game away by winning the fourth, 21-12.
Leak said she spoke to her team in the huddle to get the players reengaged for the fourth quarter.
“Imagine us going into the fourth quarter, and we’re down 15,” Leak said. “We have hope. So, this first five minutes, we have to get stops and execute.”
The Lady Lions emptied the bench with their reserve players playing the final two minutes. Freshman guard Coumba Keita scored her first two points of the season as one of nine Lady Lions to score in the game.