UAPB Pulls Away From TSU In Intense Home Finale

A Texas Southern University three-point lead with 7:15 left in the third quarter quickly turned into an unfortunate result as the TSU women’s basketball team dropped their home finale at the H&PE Arena to Arkansas-Pine Bluff 83-53.

Micah Gray’s driving layup gave her 11 points to that moment, Kamryn Bates’s assist on the play was her third of the night and the points scored for the team made the game score 37-34. TSU would be held without a field goal until the 8:19 mark of the fourth quarter when Alisa Knight drilled a three pointer. The lack of time between field goals amassed 9:56 of game clock.

Prior to the field goal, the third quarter ended in a tense moment as both benches cleared which resulted in multiple ejections from both teams due to players leaving the bench. Despite the long delay, the few players left from TSU put forth a valiant effort in the final quarter as head coach Vernette Skeete was pleased with the mental growth of her team during the hectic sequence.

During that stretch when TSU (2-24, 2-13 SWAC) went 0-for-7 from the field, 0-for-4 from long range and 3-for-6 from the free throw line, UAPB (10-15, 8-7 SWAC) would go 8-for-12 from the field, 1-for-1 from long range and 10-for-13 from the charity stripe for a 27-3 run. The Tigers would use a brief 6-2 run midway through the fourth to cut the deficit to 69-51, but the Lady Lions closed the game out on a 14-2 run over the last 4:32 of the game for the final score of 83-53 for the largest margin of deficit in a SWAC contest during the season.

UAPB’s Maori Davenport led all scorers with 22 points and added nine rebounds, six blocks and two assists.

Micah Gray led the Tigers with 17 points, but it would be Jaida Belton with the best individual outing of her young career at TSU. Belton, a 6-foot-4 forward from Baltimore, Md., recorded her first career double-double as she went for 12 points and 11 rebounds. Belton’s double-double was just the third of the year for TSU and her 11 rebounds were just the fifth time that anyone on the team went for double-figure rebound totals.

UP NEXT
The final full weekend road trip is upon us as the Tigers will travel to Mississippi for a pair of games against Jackson State and Alcorn State. Tipoff for Saturday’s game against Jackson State is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT while next Monday’s contest at Alcorn State is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. CT start.