After dropping both games of SWAC play’s opening weekend, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team is looking to bounce back in Houston.
UAPB will play at Prairie View A&M at 6 p.m. Thursday and at Texas Southern at 2 p.m. Saturday in its first two road games of conference play. The Prairie View game will be streamed on SWAC TV, while the Texas Southern Athletics YouTube channel will stream Saturday’s game.
UAPB Coach Erica Leak said the Lady Lions must be mentally locked in to overcome the challenges of playing on the road.
“As I tell the girls, we’re already down 10,” Leak said. “They need to play with a sense of urgency and understand that when you’re on the road, the whistle’s not your friend. The crowd is not your friend, and you’re battling against another team. Just keep that in mind, that anything that we want, we have to go get it. Noone’s going to lay down and give us anything.”
UAPB (3-9, 0-2 SWAC) dropped its SWAC opener in overtime at home against Alabama State two days before Alabama A&M raced past the Lady Lions. Now, they must attempt to earn their first conference win on the road.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB proved it can win away from Pine Bluff with its nonconference wins at Memphis and North Alabama, which Leak said provides a huge boost of confidence entering this weekend.
“One thing about being on the road is that you’re together,” Leak said. “We watch a lot of film together. We’re in the hotel together. We eat together. I think we have camaraderie going into competition.”
Prairie View A&M (2-11, 0-2) also got off to a rough start to SWAC play, losing 70-55 at Southern and 85-60 at Grambling State. The Lady Panthers have yet to defeat a Division I opponent this season.
Guard play will be key in this game. The Panthers rank seventh in the SWAC in points per game as a team but feature the league’s top two individual scorers. Sophomore guard Crystal Schultz leads the SWAC with 15.7 points per game, followed closely by sophomore guard CJ Wilson’s 15.3.
UAPB can counter with junior guards Indiya Bowen and Jailah Pelly, who rank third and fifth in the SWAC, respectively. Bowen averages 13.4 points per game, while Pelly averages 12.8.
Leak said the Lady Lions spent a lot of time practicing defense this week.
“We’re not going to be laid back and lax against their guards,” Leak said. “We’re going to put some pressure on them, and we’re going to make them take tough shots. We’re not just going to have them comfortable and doing what they do and doing what they’ve done this year.”
Texas Southern (5-9, 1-1) slipped past Grambling 61-58 in its conference opener before falling 64-45 to Southern. The Grambling win was Texas Southern’s first Division I victory this season.
The Lady Tigers don’t have an individual scoring leader in the SWAC but, as a team, lead the conference with 66.8 points per game. They also have the highest team shooting percentage, 39%.
Bowen and Pelly score more per game than any Lady Tiger, but they are the only Lady Lions averaging more than 5.0 points. Texas Southern has eight players above that mark. Leading scorer Daeja Holmes ranks eighth in the SWAC with 11.6 points per game, with Taliyah Logwood adding 10.4.