The Jackson State women’s basketball team did just that Wednesday, defeating No. 8 seed Arkansas at Pine Bluff 78-67 in the quarterfinal round of the SWAC Tournament.
Ameshya Williams-Holliday (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Miya Crump (12 points, 11 rebounds) each posted double-doubles in the win. Ti’lan Boler (13 points), and Jariyah Covington (11 points) each came off the bench to provide a scoring punch to give JSU a 32-5 scoring advantage in the category.
For the third time this season, and the second time in seven days, JSU and UAPB battled. Unlike last Thursday’s 72-65 game in which the Lady Tigers led for a little more than 10 minutes in the game, JSU led for more than 34 minutes tonight.
However, after building to a 63-49 lead after three quarters, JSU went cold as the weather became this week in Central Mississippi, as Jackson State making only three of 19 shots from the field. However, the challenges down the stretch of the season made the Lady Tigers battle-tested, as the team kept its composure and never lost the lead.
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“I told my team at this point of the season, every team that’s in the tournament is going to play hard, they are going to play gritty, and they are not going to lay down,” said JSU head coach Tomekia Reed. “We knew Arkansas Pine Bluff was going to be a really good game. Arkansas-Pine Bluff is an eight-seed, but I’m telling you they play really hard. Arkansas Pine Bluff is the second-best team in this tournament in my opinion. I told our players we had to play tough, we had to get after it, and not take them lightly, and that’s what I thought we did.”
Leading 21-20 after one quarter, the JSU defense stiffened, allowing just 29 points combined in the second and third quarters. The Lady Tigers made 17 of 34 shots over that time, extending to their largest lead of the game with a 14-point advantage on a basket by Boler as the period ended.
In the fourth quarter, UAPB cut the Jackson State advantage to two points twice, the last time at 69-67 with 1:12 remaining.
However, a pair of free throws by Covington with just under a minute remaining sparked a game-ending 9-0 run by Jackson State.
Courtesy: Jackson State Athletics
