There was no time to rest for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team after playing a hard-fought game Tuesday night.
Two days later, UAPB is on the road facing Jackson State at 6 p.m. Thursday in Jackson, Miss.. The Lady Lions will then face Alcorn State at 1 p.m. Saturday in Lorman.
The JSU game will be broadcast on the JSU Sports Network, while Alcorn will stream Saturday’s game on YouTube.
UAPB (3-16, 1-8 SWAC) coach Erica Leak said the quick turnaround meant a long Wednesday for the Lady Lions.
“We just have to come up with a game plan to try to beat (Jackson State) as well as recover,” Leak said. “So, it’s more of a mental day. … The physical part, we can’t do so much. We just played (Tuesday). A whole lot of players have played a whole lot of minutes. You know how that wear and tear is, and we have another one Saturday.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The past week has been the best week of the season so far for the Lady Lions. On Saturday, they broke their 12-game losing streak by dominating Mississippi Valley State 68-39 for their first Division I victory.
They followed it up by hanging with league leader Texas Southern, even leading in the fourth quarter. Although they ultimately lost, the Lady Lions seemed confident after the game that better days were ahead.
Leak said the win against MVSU built belief and confidence in the Lady Lions, and it is showing on the court.
“We put on more pressure, full-court, half-court pressure,” Leak said. “We have to be able to do that and not run out of gas in the fourth (quarter). I think that’s the tale of the tape, that our defense has been a whole lot better. We’re communicating and talking on defense, deliberate talking.”
Both Mississippi teams feature one of the SWAC’s top three scorers since the start of conference play.
Jackson State (9-11, 7-2) senior guard Taleah Dilworth leads the conference with 18.3 points per game. In 20 games this season, she has only failed to score 10 points or more one time. She scored 4 points against Tulane on Nov. 24 in a game where she played a season-low 16 minutes.
Dilworth has scored at least 14 points in every SWAC game and broke 20 twice.
Leak said packing the paint defensively and rebounding better would help UAPB against Dilworth and the Lady Tigers.
“I think we can beat anybody in the conference, but we can’t get outrebounded by 20 and not rotate and leave space for open shots,” Leak said. “So, I think if we can contain the paint and know where she is on the floor at all times, then we’ll have a better chance of containing her.”
Jackson State is in a three-way tie for second place in the SWAC with Alabama A&M and Southern.
Alcorn State (6-14, 4-5) features one of the SWAC’s most versatile players. Senior forward Destiny Brown ranks third in the SWAC with 14.9 points per game since the start of conference play. She also ranks fourth in rebounds, fourth in assists and third in blocks. Brown has four double doubles this season.
She surpassed the 1,000 career points in the Lady Braves’ last game against Southern.
Leak said UAPB will be shorthanded for the Alcorn game. Sophomore guard Jailah Pelly will miss Saturday’s game due to a family matter, though she is expected to play against Jackson. Pelly averages 8.4 points per game but scored 18 against MVSU and 20 against Texas Southern this past week. She leads UAPB with 45 assists this season.