The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lady Lions basketball team suffered a 69-56 defeat to Grambling on Saturday evening at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
The Lady Lions (0-19, 0-8 SWAC) held a 24-8 lead with five minutes left in the first period, only to concede a 17-0 run to Grambling (8-10, 4-4 SWAC) before halftime.
Behind the hot shooting performance of freshman guard Cierra Ceazer and a relentless press defense, the Lady Tigers gradually began to pull away from UAPB in the second half to secure the victory.
Ceazer went 6-of-8 from the floor in the first half for 15 of her 19 total points, including three consecutive 3-pointers in the last three minutes to cap the run with a 25-24 advantage entering the locker room. Although she came out of her zone after halftime, the tempo had been set and UAPB struggled on both ends of the floor for the rest of the way.
Jenise Gentry hit the first two baskets of the game for UAPB, while
Chigozianyi Okwumabua and junior guard
Lakendra Marsh chipped in to open the game on an 11-1 run. The Lady Lions used a hands-up approach on defense, forcing bad shots and turnovers while fighting for rebounds, and they found it easy to navigate around the tough Lady Tiger defense until Ceazer got the hot hand late in the first half.
“You have to match their intensity,” UAPB head coach Cary Shelton said. “You have to force them to put the ball on the floor, and beat you off the dribble.”
The intensity lacked as fatigue began to play a factor for the Lady Lions. Their leading post player, juniors Okwumabua and Gentry, both got into early foul trouble and left the job of handling the stiff and tiring Grambling press to the reserves.
“We had to bring them out, all around the same time,” Shelton said. “Grambling came up with strong defense at half-court, and we struggled with it. We played the starters pretty much about 30 minutes. We want to give them a little bit more of a longer break, but during the course of a game, we really need them when it's really close.”
The teams traded baskets early in the second half before Grambling began another run, this time outscoring UAPB 12-4 to take the lead at 42-38 with 10 minutes left in the game. Freshman guard Dayla Threatt helped Grambling with two three point baskets during the run as the Lady Tigers came alive from behind the arc, finishing 10-of-22. Brittney Allen, Savannah Carter and Tonishea Mack sank one each to take a commanding 54-43 lead with eight minutes remaining, and Grambling was in cruise control the rest of the way.
“They really fought hard,” Shelton said. “They really wanted to win this game. We were really fighting, clawing just to keep a lead or to maintain a safe distance to where we got an opportunity to win it. We were in the right position but the girls just weren't settled down.”
UAPB plays next against Jackson State at 5:30 pm on Monday evening at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
