CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Arkansas At Pine Bluff women's basketball team was in another battle for the third straight game, nearly erasing a big deficit before falling 65-50 at Illinois Thursday night at the State Farm Center.

Despite being outscored 21-0 over the first 12+ minutes of the game, the Lady Lions rallied to outscore Illinois 50-44 over the final 27+ minutes of the contest, finished even in rebounding at 38-38, and won both the second and fourth quarters in scoring against the Illini of the Big 10 Conference.

Nissa San-Grant had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Pyburn led UAPB with 12 points, and Aiya El Hassan and Noe'll Taylor each scored 10.

Sam-Grant's basket with just over seven minutes to play until halftime got the Lady Lions on the scoreboard and sparked a quarter-ending 17-6 run. Combined with holding Illinois to only 2-of-15 shooting in the period, UAPB trailed 27-17 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Illinois pushed its lead to 23 points but UAPB would not give in. The Lady Lions outscored the Illini 22-14 over the final 11+ minutes. UAPB cut the deficit to 10 points twice in the fourth quarter, the last on a jumper by El Hassan to cut the score to 56-46 with 3:55 remaining but could get no closer.

UAPB returns to action Tuesday at Tennessee at 6 p.m., with a live video stream on SEC Network Plus.

#UAPBLionsAreComing