Students from Friendship Aspire Academy packed the stands at H.O. Clemmons Arena on Friday to watch the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff cruise past an in-state foe.
The UAPB women’s basketball team dominated Arkansas Baptist 103-35 on Education Day for its second win of the season.
UAPB (2-6) head coach Dawn Thornton said her son was among the students in the crowd.
“To have them to be a part of our family right now, this is a beautiful thing,” Thornton said. “We enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward for the next opportunity for them to be able to come back, and definitely invite more schools to come out.” Zaay Green led UAPB with her second triple-double of the season. She scored 19 points, had 16 assists and collected 11 rebounds. She also had six steals. Green previously had a triple-double in UAPB’s other home win against Texas A&M-Texarkana.
Green said she felt everything was working for her.
“Mostly, it was the assists,” Green said. “My team was hitting today, so I just kept feeding them. My shot felt good, as well, so it was just an overall great day.” Two Lady Lions had double-doubles. Cori-ah Beck scored 19 points, collected 10 rebounds and had six steals. Jelissa Reese scored 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Maya Peat added 14 points. Azaria Robinson had 13 rebounds and Maori Davenport had 10.
Green said having so many players contributing was good for UAPB.
“Especially going into Dallas this coming up week,” Green said. “I think that was needed for everybody for the confidence and what we need from everybody every game.” Defensively, UAPB had 23 steals with nine players getting at least one. The Lady Lions scored 41 points off turnovers and held Arkansas Baptist to 25 percent shooting. Jessica Nerestant led the Buffs with 10 points.
Thornton said the Lady Lions worked on defense Thursday.
“That was something that I think we kind of went away from when we played Clemson the last game of the tournament,” Thornton said. “So, we wanted to be able to get back on the defending side. We worked on that yesterday, and we saw how it turned out today.” Arkansas Baptist (1-8) took an early 5-2 lead after a 3-pointer by Anna Kassim and a layup from Nerestant. Peat and Davenport hit layups to put UAPB in front, kick-starting a 20-0 UAPB run which gave the Lady Lions control of the game.
The Lady Lions led 25-7 after the first quarter then held the Lady Buffaloes to just a Nerestant layup in the second quarter. UAPB led 53-9 at halftime after Green beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer from the edge of the logo. UAPB feasted in transition during the second quarter, scoring 11 fastbreak points.
The Lady Buffaloes had a better offensive showing in the second half with 14 points in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth, but the Lady Lions kept up their own offensive pace. Green got UAPB past 100 points with 2:21 to play. This was the Lady Lions’ second time breaking triple digits this year.