Jackson State leads Arkansas-Pine Bluff 38-20 at halftime in the women's semifinal game at the 2024 Starry SWAC Basketball Tournament. JSU scored the first 10 points of the contest. At 5:35 in the first half, the Lady Golden Lions made a basket. They eventually rattled off an 8-1 run, but Jackson State's defense has been the game's story. The 2nd-leading scorer in the SWAC, Zaay Green, was limited to five points in the first half.
JSU head coach Tomekia Reed said before addressing her team in the locker room, "We saw Arkansas Pine Bluff hit the ball extremely well yesterday. So we want to make sure that we came out in defense of the three-point line and also be at the defense, of course, on the inside as well. I think what our defense and rebounding the ball is giving us an opportunity to be great offensive.
Jackson State scored 39% from the floor and held UAPB to 25%. JSU cleared the glass with 26 rebounds, compared to the Lady Golden Lions' 17. Angel Jackson helped to dominate the paint as JSU led inside with 14 points to 4 scored by UAPB. Jackson missed six free throws in the half.
"I want to see us execute a little bit better right now we kind of just pushing the transition to just give them what they give us. But I want us to execute a little bit more down the stretch," Reed said.
Jackson State leading scorer of the first half was Ti'lan Boler with 11 points, Maya Crump added six.
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