Three days after picking up its second road win, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team is back home.
UAPB will host Arkansas Baptist at noon Thursday for Future Golden Lions Kids Club Day at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
UAPB (2-5) is coming off Monday’s 50-48 comeback win at North Alabama, the Lady Lions’ second fourth quarter comeback of the season. Junior guard Indiya Bowen beat the buzzer with a game-winning 3-pointer, a shot that made No. 8 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 that night.
The 3-point shot was a gutsy one to take. UAPB was 2 of 14 from beyond the arc prior to that shot and could have won with a 2-pointer. The Lady Lions’ leading scorer that night, junior guard Jailah Pelly, served as a decoy, drawing two defenders before passing the ball to an open Bowen for the winning shot.
Following that game, UAPB is shooting 29% from 3-point range this season and averages 4.1 makes per game.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Lady Lions are a 58.2% free throw shooting team, an issue which nearly cost them against UNA. UAPB started the game 1 of 8 from the line but made 8 of its last 10, including a go-ahead free throw by Pelly with 15.9 seconds remaining.
It was the Lady Lions’ best defensive performance of the season. UAPB held UNA to 34.5% from the field and 11.8% from 3-point range, both season lows for UAPB’s opponents. The previous lows in both categories belonged to Memphis, which UAPB defeated with a fourth-quarter comeback in the season opener on Nov. 3.
UNA and Memphis are the only teams this season UAPB has held below 73 points. The Lady Lions beat Memphis 69-64.
Pelly and Bowen enter Thursday’s game against Arkansas Baptist each averaging 13 points per game. Pelly is also averaging 6.1 rebounds and leads the team with 16 assists.
No other Lady Lion is averaging more than 5.1, though freshman Jakyra Jackson has begun to warm up the past two games. After missing the first two games of the season with injury, the West Helena native failed to score in limited playing time against Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana Tech.
Since then, Jackson scored 5 points against South Dakota and 8 against UNA. She collected a combined five rebounds and five steals in those two games. UAPB could use another scoring option if Jackson can continue to find her rhythm.
Thursday’s home game will be UAPB’s first game this season against a non-Division I foe. Arkansas Baptist is 7-0 against fellow NAIA opponents but 0-3 against NCAA foes. The Lady Buffaloes lost 81-65 at Alcorn State, 66-52 at Arkansas-Monticello and 103-52 at Northwestern State.
UAPB is looking for its first home win this season after falling 78-44 to Sam Houston in its only prior home game.