Arkansas has eye on WNIT’s prize
FAYETTEVILLE — After not hearing its name called during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday night, Mike Neighbors gave his University of Arkansas women’s basketball team roughly 15 minutes to feel the pain.
After emotions had been let loose and time was up, the Razorbacks flipped the page and began embracing a new goal. His team challenged itself to win the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Arkansas (21-12) begins its quest at 7 tonight against Louisiana Tech inside Walton Arena.
“[Neighbors] told us we had like 15 minutes to be mad, be sad or whatever, but after those 15 minutes, we were going to turn our focus to whatever the plan was for this week,” Arkansas senior guard Makayla Daniels said. “And so obviously that was for the WNIT. … We weren’t concerned [with], ‘Oh, we didn’t make the tournament,’ feeling pity for ourselves. It was kind of just like, ‘Let’s switch the focus and … let’s win in this postseason.’”
Daniels, the team’s veteran leader who has started all 118 games of her career, made it clear Arkansas’ goal is to end the season with a WNIT title.
“I think we’re all very confident,” she said. “I think we all realize the opportunity we have with this WNIT tournament, and I don’t think there’s one person that wants our season to end just yet.”
The Lady Techsters (19-12) finished fifth in Conference USA and will be playing in Fayetteville for just the second time. Louisiana Tech is 3-0 all-time against the Razorbacks, most recently winning 75-52 in November 1983.
Arkansas ties are scattered across the Lady Techsters’ team, starting at the top with Coach Brooke Stoehr, who was born in the Ashley County town of Portland.
Stoehr was the starting point guard for Louisiana Tech from 1998-02, a stretch which saw the Lady Techsters make one Final Four and two Elite Eights. She received her first assistant coaching job in 2003 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock under Coach Joe Foley.
Fifth-year guard Keiunna Walker, who is the storied program’s eiughth all-time scorer, starred at Lonoke High School from 2014-18. She has scored in double figures 29 times this season and has also drawn 50 charges, a feat that’s impressed Neighbors.
“Keiunna Walker came to our camps and was a great player there,” Neighbors said. “We just had Makayla coming, so we didn’t recruit Keiunna. She’s had a great career for them down there … [She is] one of the leading guards in the country at getting to the foul line and drawing fouls. She’ll remind our fans of [former Razorback and current Oklahoma City Thunder forward] Jaylin Williams.”
It is Arkansas’ eighth WNIT appearance, which includes a tournament title in 1999 under Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Gary Blair. The Razorbacks most recently competed in the event in 2019, winning two games before falling to eventual semifinalist TCU.
“I think how we play this next game, whether that’s the last one or we play six more and win it all and hang a banner, I think how we go about doing it will be what springboards us,” Neighbors said of using the WNIT to build momentum. “You know, the last time we played into the [W] NIT deep, it springboarded us into three straight NCAA tournaments. So, let’s do that again. Let’s take advantage of our opportunity. … There’d be nothing better than to get a banner up there beside Coach Blair and that team from ’99’s banner.”
Daniels and senior Erynn Barnum both announced that they will exhaust their collegiate eligibility next year, capitalizing on the additional covid-19 season. However, the tournament gives seniors Chrissy Carr and Avery Hughes another opportunity to play at home inside Walton Arena, something Daniels said she doesn’t want to take for granted.
“It’s hard to see your seniors go, and so you want to keep playing with them as long as you possibly can,” Daniels said. “I think the opportunity we have is special and we have to do what we can with it to get them to play as many games as they can in a Razorback uniform.”