2024–25 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions women's basketball team

2024–25 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions women's basketball
ConferenceSouthwestern Athletic Conference
Record3–25 (1–17 SWAC)
Head coach
  • Erica Leak (1st season)
Associate head coachFreddie Murray
Assistant coaches
  • Xavier Johnson
  • Roderick Woods
Home arenaH.O. Clemmons Arena
2024–25 SWAC women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Southern † 15 – 3   .833 21 – 15   .583
Texas Southern 14 – 4   .778 17 – 16   .515
Alabama A&M 14 – 4   .778 21 – 11   .656
Jackson State 13 – 5   .722 16 – 15   .516
Grambling State 12 – 6   .667 15 – 15   .500
Alcorn State 10 – 8   .556 14 – 18   .438
Bethune–Cookman 7 – 11   .389 10 – 21   .323
Florida A&M 6 – 12   .333 9 – 21   .300
Mississippi Valley State 6 – 12   .333 8 – 23   .258
Prairie View A&M 6 – 12   .333 10 – 19   .345
Alabama State 4 – 14   .222 6 – 24   .200
1 – 17   .056 3 – 25   .107
† 2025 SWAC tournament winner

The 2024–25 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions women's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Lions, who were led by first-year head coach Erica Leak, played their home games at the H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff, Arkansas as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

Previous season

The Golden Lions finished the 2023–24 season 17–16, 11–7 in SWAC play, to finish in fourth place.[1] They defeated Alabama A&M,[2] before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champions Jackson State in the semifinals of the SWAC tournament.[3]

On April 6, 2024, head coach Dawn Thornton announced that she would be stepping down from her position of head coach after six seasons, in order to take the head coaching job at fellow SWAC school Alabama A&M.[4] On April 25, the school announced that they would be hiring West Memphis High School head coach Erica Leak as Thornton's successor.[5]

Preseason

On September 19, 2024, the SWAC released their preseason coaches poll. Arkansas–Pine Bluff was picked to finish eleventh in the SWAC.[6]

Preseason rankings

SWAC preseason poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Grambling State 276 (10)
2 Southern 232 (2)
3 Alabama A&M 226 (4)
4 Jackson State 211 (4)
5 Florida A&M 178 (3)
6 Prairie View A&M 165 (1)
7 Alcorn State 157
8 Bethune–Cookman 142
9 Texas Southern 117
10 Alabama State 114
11 Arkansas–Pine Bluff 86
12 Mississippi Valley State 46

Source:[6]

Preseason All-SWAC Teams

No Golden Lions were named to the first or second Preseason All-SWAC teams.[6]

Roster

2024–25 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Janiyah Tucker 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr West Memphis High School West Memphis, Arkansas
G 1 Jailah Pelly 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Indiana State Belleville, Illinois
G 2 Aryah Hazley 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Arkansas State Mid-South West Memphis, Arkansas
C 4 Briontanay Marshall 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Walters State Community College Louisville, Kentucky
G 5 D'arrah Allen 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr UTEP Compton, California
G 7 Nadiyah Byard 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Appalachian State Griffin, Georgia
G 10 Jazmyn Sostand 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Kilgore College Beaumont, Texas
G 12 Kristyna Boyd 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Walters State Community College Memphis, Tennessee
G 13 Uriah Jennings 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Cleveland Heights High School Mayfield Heights, Ohio
C 15 Mariam Traore 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Jr South Mountain Community College Tempe, Arizona
G 17 Empress Roberts 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Harker Heights High School Harker Heights, Texas
G 21 Ashley Rojas 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Union College Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
F 32 Stephanie Okowi 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Oakland Tech High School Oakland, California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: June 17, 2025

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024*
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Oklahoma State L 43–96  0–1
 Gallagher-Iba Arena (1,558)
Stillwater, OK
November 6, 2024*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Tulsa L 60–63  0–2
 Reynolds Center (1,355)
Tulsa, OK
November 10, 2024*
2:00 pm, SECN+ 		at No. 20 Ole Miss L 24–85  0–3
 SJB Pavilion (2,879)
Oxford, MS
November 18, 2024*
6:00 pm 		Texas A&M–Texarkana W 63–38  1–3
 H.O. Clemmons Arena (346)
Pine Bluff, AR
November 20, 2024*
6:00 pm 		Arkansas Baptist W 71–39  2–3
 H.O. Clemmons Arena (397)
Pine Bluff, AR
November 23, 2024*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Sam Houston L 48–67  2–4
 Bernard Johnson Coliseum (471)
Huntsville, TX
November 25, 2024*
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		at SMU L 58–82  2–5
 Moody Coliseum (356)
University Park, TX
December 1, 2024*
3:00 pm 		North Alabama L 48–62  2–6
 H.O. Clemmons Arena (347)
Pine Bluff, AR
December 16, 2024*
11:00 pm, SPECTS/ESPN+ 		at Hawai‘i L 15–56  2–7
 Stan Sheriff Center (1,610)
Honolulu, HI
December 19, 2024*
3:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at UTEP L 62–70  2–8
 Don Haskins Center (1,228)
El Paso, TX
SWAC regular season
January 2, 2025
6:00 pm 		at Alabama State L 46–58  2–9
(0–1) 		Dunn–Oliver Acadome (450)
Montgomery, AL
January 4, 2025
2:00 pm 		at Alabama A&M L 52–66  2–10
(0–2) 		AAMU Events Center (1,503)
Huntsville, AL
January 13, 2025
3:00 pm 		Prairie View A&M L 61–68  2–11
(0–3) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (476)
Pine Bluff, AR
January 16, 2025
6:00 pm 		at Bethune–Cookman L 58–62  2–12
(0–4) 		Moore Gymnasium (551)
Daytona Beach, FL
January 18, 2025
3:00 pm 		at Florida A&M L 50–84  2–13
(0–5) 		Al Lawson Center (579)
Tallahassee, FL
January 23, 2025
6:00 pm 		Grambling State L 57–64  2–14
(0–6) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (647)
Pine Bluff, AR
January 25, 2025
3:00 pm 		Southern L 36–52  2–15
(0–7) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (843)
Pine Bluff, AR
February 1, 2025
3:00 pm 		Mississippi Valley State W 68–39  3–15
(1–7) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (749)
Pine Bluff, AR
February 4, 2025
3:00 pm 		Texas Southern L 65–75  3–16
(1–8) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (648)
Pine Bluff, AR
February 6, 2025
6:00 pm 		at Jackson State L 60–76  3–17
(1–9) 		Williams Assembly Center (498)
Jackson, MS
February 8, 2025
1:00 pm 		at Alcorn State L 40–53  3–18
(1–10) 		Davey Whitney Complex (200)
Lorman, MS
February 13, 2025
6:00 pm 		Alabama A&M L 55–69  3–19
(1–11) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (674)
Pine Bluff, AR
February 15, 2025
3:00 pm 		Alabama State L 63–68 OT 3–20
(1–12) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (902)
Pine Bluff, AR
February 20, 2025
7:00 pm 		at Texas Southern L 59–73  3–21
(1–13) 		H&PE Arena (378)
Houston, TX
February 22, 2025
2:00 pm 		at Prairie View A&M L 65–67 OT 3–22
(1–14) 		William Nicks Building (320)
Prairie View, TX
March 1, 2025
4:00 pm 		at Mississippi Valley State L 48–78  3–23
(1–15) 		Harrison HPER Complex (1,995)
Itta Bena, MS
March 6, 2025
5:30 pm 		Jackson State L 65–74  3–24
(1–16) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (762)
Pine Bluff, AR
March 8, 2025
3:00 pm 		Alcorn State L 59–70  3–25
(1–17) 		H.O. Clemmons Arena (1,380)
Pine Bluff, AR
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Standings". Southwestern Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  2. ^ "Bulldogs comeback falls short in SWAC Women's Tournament". WAFF. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  3. ^ "UA-Pine Bluff women fall to Jackson State, exit SWAC tournament in semifinals". Pine Bluff Commercial News. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  4. ^ "Arkansas-Pine Bluff coach Dawn Thornton leaves program for Alabama A&M". HBCU Sports. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  5. ^ "Former West Memphis head coach Erica Leak hired to lead UAPB". KAIT. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "SWAC Announces Women's Basketball Preseason Selections". Southwestern Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  7. ^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule". UA Pine Bluff Athletics. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  8. ^ "Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
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