Box Score Houston, TX- Amid all of the fanfare surrounding the NBA All-Star weekend that's in town, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Lady Lions had a rather early start time, 11:00 AM, as they took on the Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University.
The Lady Lions got on the score board first as
Chigozianyi Okwumabua knocked down a jumper 34 seconds into the ballgame for their first lead of the ballgame, 2-0.
Texas Southern would tie the ballgame at four and take the lead, 6-4, on a jumper by Brianna Sidney at the 17:10 mark of the first half and would push their lead to as much as fourteen, 31-17, with 4:55 left before the intermission. The Lady Lions would fight to close the lead, 31-27, going into halftime.
In the second half, the Lady Lions would pick-up where they left before the half; chipping away at the TSU lead on three pointer by
Christina Lasane, at the 18:08 mark, to bring the score to 35-30.
The Lady Lions would continue to fight throughout the second half, finally taking control of the lead with 7:07 left in the half, 53-50. Despite pushing the lead to five, the Lady Lions could not hold off the Lady Tigers as they would regain the lead, 59-58, with 2:07 remaining and push the lead to four on two free throws by Kayla West late in the ball game for tonight's final 63-59.
“It was a great ball game; I thought both teams played extremely well. I thought we did some real good things in the second half”, said head coach
Nate Kilbert. “Up to the last three minutes of the ball game I thought we just out played them. Any time you can give yourself a chance to win that's all you can ask for”, added Kilbert.
Lasane was the game's high scorer with 17 points and six assists. Lasane was 6-of-7 from the floor, while connecting on all three of her attempts from behind the arc. Okwumabua would turn in 16 points and grab seven rebounds; while
Jenise Gentry would add 11points with seven boards.
West would lead the way for the Lady Tigers with 14 points, while Teera Williams had 12.
Up next for the Lady Lions, is the second half of a Texas two step with a stop in Prairie View, TX, to take on the Lady Panther's of Prairie View A&M University. Tipoff is set for 5:30 PM.
