ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University women’s basketball program host the Lady Lions on Saturday afternoon with tipoff slated for 2 p.m. from inside the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex.
Records: Mississippi Valley State (2-14, 1-7 SWAC) | Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8-10, 4-4 SWAC)
Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi – R.W. Harrison HPER Complex
Series History: N/A
Last Meeting: March 5, 2021 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff 57, Mississippi Valley State 53 | Itta Bena, Mississippi (R.W. Harrison HPER Complex)
Winning Streak: Arkansas-Pine Bluff (W4) | Mississippi Valley State’s Last Win: March 9, 2019 (82-63)
Mississippi Valley State Overview
Hammer the offensive glass and force mistakes is what the Devilettes thrive upon, ranking top-25 and top-20 nationally with 15.0 offensive boards and 21.50 turnovers forced per game, respectively.
Despite not playing in the last contest, Zakiya Mahoney still leads the team with 14.3 points a night (sixth in SWAC) plus a 40.7 field-goal percentage (seventh in SWAC).
Ronni Williams’ favorite song might as well be “All The Small Things” by Blink-182 (for the record it’s not) because she excels at all the fundamentals such as assists, steals and hustle plays. The senior guard tops the league with 77 assists for a second-best average of 4.8 on top of swiping the second-most steals per outing at 2.38.
Mikayla Etienne has made it rain from downtown Itta Bena this season, making three-pointers at a 1.88 a night clip to rank second-best in the league. She is also sixth regarding steals a contest with 2.06.
Sarah Moore continues to inch closer to a top-50 ranking in the NCAA as she averages a superb 9.1 boards a night to slot in third amongst her conference peers.
Scouting The Opponent: Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lady Lions
The Black and Gold have had a roller coaster type of season so far, winning the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic with victories over Southern Miss and Southeast Missouri State to go along with toppling Tulane on a neutral floor but come into the matchup on a two-game skid.
Khadijah Brown was UAPB’s lone representative on the All-Conference Preseason Team and has proved her mettle. She’s the club’s best rebounder (8.7 – fourth in SWAC) and shot blocker (24 – fourth in SWAC) while ranking second among her teammates for scoring (12.5). Her 52.2 field goal percentage is one of the 50-best in the NCAA and second only to Ameshya Williams of JSU in the SWAC.
Ahead of her on the scoring hierarchy has been Zaay Green with 13.3 points per contest who also holds the title of best assist-to-turnover ratio (2.35, top-25 in NCAA) and assists per game (4.9) in the league as well as a fifth-place ranking for steals a night (2.07).
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