Itta Bena, Miss. (March 9, 2019) - Mississippi Valley State women's basketball closed out the regular season with a huge victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff 82-63 in the Harrison HPER Complex on Saturday.

Senior LaKendra Bassett scored a game-high 15 points, nine assists, and five steals while freshman Sydnie Ward led the MVSU bench production with 14 points. Bassett was 5-for-10 from the field and 4-of-7 on free throws. Ward made 4-of-6 three-pointers and had a pair of steals along with two assists. Junior Jazmin Holmon finished with a team-high nine rebounds scoring seven points.

Ward gave MVSU their first lead of the game 20-19 at the 8:05 mark of the second quarter. UAPB dominated the opening period holding the Deviletets to four made field goals while they made seven. MVSU ended the first half with a 33-26 advantage after a 6-2 run started by junior Angelica Darcus. Darcus made a pair of layups followed by freshman Ronnie Williams' jumper in the lane.

Bassett had nine second-half points with Ward adding eight. UAPB struggled with 15 turnovers leading to 17 points for the Devilettes. The Lady Golden Lions were outscored 25-14 in the third period and in the fourth period they allowed MVSU to shoot 47 percent (10-21) from the field.

Noe'll Taylor led UPAB in scoring with 16 and also in rebounds with nine. Ashlee Daniel finished with 12 points and Trasity Totten had 11 points.

Five seniors played their final game in the Harrison HPER Complex on Saturday. MVSU recognized seniors LaKendra Bassett, Kristy Parker, Desiray Mosley and Makayla Bonner for their services to the women's basketball program.

The Devilettes will be the No. 8 seed in the SWAC Women's Basketball Tournament next week.

Postgame Presser
Head Coach Ashley Walker-Johnson
On scoring 80 or more points again tonight…
"It is because my kids are sharing the ball. This is something we weren't doing early. If you guys watch us, whether we are on the road or at home, when we don't have any assists, it's just solo. It's just catch, shoot, catch, shoot. We don't have any ball movement, and so when you move the ball and when you play good defense, when you can score in transition, it makes it easier in the half court. As well as your scoring in transitions. Sometimes, we don't score in transitions, because we don't get stops, so that's another reason, but we had good ball movement, we were able to get some stops, and we were able to get some easy buckets."
 
On being on a two-game win streak going into the SWAC tournament…
"It's good for us because we have struggled. Like I told my kids at halftime and before the game, 'February was not a good month for us, for the simple fact that you guys just rose to the occasion, and did not let that define you, that is good.' We started playing our better ball at the end of February, starting with Jackson State. Again, we wanted the three-game win streak going in. That didn't happen, so I told them 'Anybody else could've folded, but you guys did not fold. You found your will. You found yourself again. Let's continue to rock and roll.' So, for us, a team that has six overall wins, that's extremely good for us going into a hostile environment. I don't know scores, so I don't know where we will be going, but to have that momentum going in is good for us, and I am extremely excited for my kids."