For the majority of Wednesday’s midday contest, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff seemed primed to win its second women’s basketball road game in three days.
Instead, the University of North Texas rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Lady Lions 73-66 at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
UAPB (3-7) led for 25:58 of the game. After beating Southern Methodist University on Monday, the Lady Lions were eyeing a 2-0 finish to their Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex trip.
UNT (8-1) outscored the Lady Lions 25-14 in the fourth quarter to come from behind and remain undefeated at home.
Free throw shooting made a big difference in a game with a combined 50 called fouls. UNT made 25 of 38 from the line, while UAPB shot 10 of 21. This was the Lady Lions’ first game below 50% at the line this season, with the previous low coming two games prior against Arkansas Baptist College (50%).
The game was tied at 17 after the first quarter. UAPB’s defense held UNT to a single field goal in the second quarter, which should have allowed the Lady Lions to pull away, but the Mean Green made 7 of 10 free throws in the quarter to keep the deficit manageable. UAPB was just 2 of 7 at the line in the second.
The Lady Lions held their largest lead at 31-22 with 1:52 remaining in the first half. After two free throws by DesiRay Kernal, Ereauna Hardaway broke UNT’s shooting drought with a steal at midcourt, leading to an easy layup. UAPB led 31-26 at halftime.
Kaila Walker, who made four 3-pointers at SMU, got hot again midway through the third quarter. She hit three deep shots in quick succession to get the lead back up to 48-39, tying UAPB’s largest lead. UNT answered with a 7-0 run.
A late layup by Demetria Shephard had UAPB ahead 52-48 after the third, but a 6-0 UNT run in the fourth gave the Mean Green a 58-56 lead, its first since it was 11-9 in the first quarter. UAPB managed to tie the game three times but never led again.
The Mean Green went on an 8-0 run starting at the 3:00 mark to pull away.
Kernal scored a game-high 28 points and collected 12 rebounds to lead UNT to victory at home. She shot 12 of 18 from the line. Dyani Robinson contributed 10 points.
Zaay Green led UAPB with 18 points and seven rebounds but shot 0 of 3 from the free throw line. Shephard scored 13 points and was 3 of 6 from the line.
UAPB’s next two games will be against Southeastern Conference talent. The Lady Lions will visit the University of Arkansas for a 1 p.m. Sunday tipoff on SEC Network and host the University of Mississippi at 1 p.m. Dec. 21.