After another tough road trip, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will look to get back on track at home, where it has found success.
The UAPB women’s basketball team will begin a three-game home stand at H.O. Clemmons Arena at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Texas Southern and 3 p.m. Saturday against Prairie View A&M.
UAPB (9-14, 6-7 SWAC) fell to 2-5 on the road in SWAC play with last week’s 0-2 trip to Alabama, but the Lady Lions are 4-2 at home and have won their past four games in Pine Bluff.
Head Coach Erica Leak said playing in “The Den” has given the Lady Lions an extra boost.
“The student section has been amazing the last couple of games,” Leak said. “Their friends and their families in the crowd. They got the front row with the AM&N (alumni). I think that kind of helps fuel them. They want to really play well at home, and we talk a lot about defending the court. We don’t let anybody come in our home and take over where we practice and work hard every day.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Since the start of SWAC play, the Lady Lions are shooting 42.2% from the field at home compared to 37.3% on the road. They have scored 65.3 points per game at home and 60.3 on the road.
The Lady Lions’ best win by far in SWAC play came in their most recent home game, a 64-60 comeback win against an Alcorn State team which had entered the night tied for first place.
The Lady Braves remain in second after winning both games since.
This week’s home games will be followed by the final home game of the season next week against Mississippi Valley State. UAPB will play two potentially challenging road games afterward before next month’s SWAC tournament in Atlanta.
Leak said she considers all three remaining home dates as must-win games to keep UAPB in the top half of the SWAC.
The top six teams get byes to the quarterfinals in the tournament, while the bottom six will have to play extra games earlier in the week to reach the quarterfinals.
Last week’s losses to Alabama A&M and Alabama State snapped UAPB’s three-game winning streak, which had been the second-longest active streak in the SWAC.
Leak said after those losses, the Lady Lions had a film session lasting an hour and a half, where the coaches kept a list on a whiteboard of all the mistakes UAPB needs to correct.
“Against Alabama State, we missed 10 free throws,” Leak said.
“You make 10 free throws, you win by 2. Good teams, especially women’s basketball teams, you make your free throws, your layups, OK, and you don’t turn the ball over. It’s a great combination to win some games, and those three have to be aligned every night.”
Texas Southern (9-16, 5-8) enters Thursday’s game one game behind UAPB in the standings and on a four-game losing streak, but the Lady Tigers defeated UAPB 80-57 in Houston on Jan. 10.
Graduate student Daeja Holmes and sophomore Taliyah Logwood have led TSU this season, but it was senior guard Jordyn Marshall who led the Lady Tigers past UAPB in the first matchup with 29 points.
It remains her only gave with more than 15 this season. Of note, Marshall has missed TSU’s past three games.
Leak said UAPB, which has relied on its full-court press defense more recently, hadn’t gone to that system when these teams first met.
“I think our press will give them trouble and slow them down on the offensive end,” Leak said.
“We know, can’t let (Holmes) and (Logwood) shoot the ball. Gotta run them off the line. So, I just think we’re a different team than we were early on, so they’re going to have to adjust to our full-court pressure that we have established.”
Prairie View A&M (2-22, 0-13) has lost 18 straight games and is the only SWAC women’s team without a Division I win this season.
In conference play, the Lady Panthers rank last in scoring offense and second to last in scoring defense.
One of UAPB’s two conference road wins were against Prairie View.
The Lady Lions won 53-49 on a day the Lady Panthers were without their top two scorers, sophomore guards Crystal Schultz and CJ Wilson.
It remains the only SWAC game those two have not played. Schultz averages 14 points per SWAC game, while Wilson averages 13.3.