Arkansas women look to snap five-game skid

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas women’s basketball team has lost five consecutive games and the road doesn’t get any early for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas hits the road to take on tradition-rich Rutgers on Sunday afternoon.

Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes spoke in almost reverent tones about Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, who has won more than 900 games in her 45-year career and 438 at Rutgers.

“I told her last year ‘it’s an honor to coach against you,’” Dykes said. “It’ll be an honor again. Rutgers is a strong, strong program. They know how to win. They start four seniors. The challenge will be tremendous.”

The fifth starter for the Scarlet Knights (5-3) should be a familiar name. Tyler Scaife, a 5-foot-9 junior, grew up in Little Rock. She ranks second in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game.

Dykes said 2-5 Razorbacks, which include five freshmen, have kept a good attitude through their recent struggles.

“I continue to like how we’re practicing,” Dykes said. “I continue to like how we’re being coachable. I’m not crazy about the mistakes we make in games right now. We’re so young.”

Arkansas has struggled late in its last three losses, being outscored by a combined score of 65-25 in the fourth quarter. Dykes didn’t really have an answer as to why the Razorbacks struggled late in games recently. But he acknowledged the team’s recent offensive trials have spilled over to the defensive end, too.

“We’re using our bench,” Dykes said. “I don’t think it’s fatigue. I’m not sure what it’s tied to. But it seems like when we hit a dry spell where we’re turning it over and not getting production offensively, it does affect our defense. Typically that takes a veteran team to get past that. And if we are anything, we are not a veteran team.

“They don’t understand when the offense isn’t going, the defense has to go to another level.”

Junior Jessica Jackson leads the Razorbacks in scoring, averaging a shade under 18 points per game, but she was limited to just four points on 1-of-9 shooting in Arkansas’ loss to Missouri State on Wednesday.

Dykes decided to make a change in the starting lineup before the last game, opting to bring junior Kelsey Brooks off the bench. Brooks ranks second on the team in scoring, averaging 8.9 points per game.