The first road trip of conference play started off on a sour note for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball team, which had been on a roll.
UAPB fell 85-80 to Texas Southern on Saturday in Houston, the Lady Lions’ first conference loss this season.
UAPB leading scorer Zaay Green played 14 minutes and scored 2 points with 3 rebounds. She was called for a foul with 8:27 remaining in the third quarter and then received a technical foul immediately after. She went to the bench with four fouls and did not play again.
Texas Southern (3-11, 2-1) took an 80-77 lead with 1:54 remaining in the game on a 3-pointer by Shomari Phillips. UAPB (7-9, 2-1 SWAC) went on to tie the game at the free throw line, but TSU finished on a 5-0 run at the line as UAPB couldn’t hit the needed shots late in the game despite several chances.
TSU set a new season high in scoring against Division I opposition for the second-straight game. The Lady Tigers scored 72 in their previous game, a road win at Grambling State. Before that game, they hadn’t scored more than 63 against a Division I foe this season.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Daeja Holmes led TSU with 23 points, followed by Taniya Lawson with 20 and Jaida Belton with 14.
Maya Peat led UAPB with 21 points, one shy of her career high, and eight rebounds.
Coriah Beck scored 17, Jelissa Reese had 14 and Demetria Shephard finished with 12.
UAPB collected 26 offensive rebounds to TSU’s 13, but only outscored the Tigers 22-17 in second-chance points. Scoring only 25 points off 26 TSU turnovers also hurt UAPB, which shot 33.7% from the field as a team. TSU shot 50%.
The Lady Tigers opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers, and TSU led much of the first quarter until a Beck 3-pointer gave UAPB its first lead late in the quarter. UAPB took a 19-18 lead into the second quarter.
Holmes gave TSU the lead back, but Beck hit another 3-pointer on the next possession to put the Lady Lions back in front.
The Lady Tigers kept it close but couldn’t tie it again, and UAPB took a 41-38 lead into halftime.
UAPB led most of the second half but never by more than 5 points, allowing TSU to hang around and ultimately win.
The Lady Lions will look to bounce back today at Prairie View A&M. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.