Razorbacks women power past Samford

FAYETTEVILLE — Malica Monk stuffed the stat sheet, and Arkansas is headed on its first road trip with a lot of momentum.

Monk hit career highs in points and rebounds, and four teammates also hit double figures in the Razorbacks’ 84-63 win against Samford on Sunday in Bud Walton Arena.

The junior from North Little Rock scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and added six assists and two steals to fuel the Razorbacks (2-0).

“Being able to go out there with a lot of energy was the main component (of my game),” Monk said. “We needed that energy and we got the energy and that played a big role throughout the game.”

Razorbacks coach Mike Neighbors said Monk’s fast start (12 points in the first half) helped the team take control early and her teammates fed off that energy.

“She did everything,” Neighbors said. “When she is in that mode, she is really hard to guard.”

Senior guard Devin Cosper had 18 points in 29 minutes and she added five

rebounds and two assists for Arkansas. Freshman forward Taylah Thomas poured 13, while sophomores Jailyn Mason and Kiara Williams scored 12 and 10 respectively.

“It’s nice when everybody is contributing and not just one person is scoring,” Thomas said. “It’s nice to know that everybody is contributing to the score and the little things are adding up to our wins.”

Thomas’ nine rebounds tied Monk for the team high.

“From the day we saw her I predicted she might be our leading rebounder and I hope I’m wrong,” Neighbors said. “It might be Malica.”

While many of Monk’s baskets came from drives that resulted in layups, she

also scored points in other ways. The guard was 2-for-3 behind the three-point line and made the most of her trips to the free-throw line, going 7-for-7.

Samford coach Mike Morris said Monk’s presence was felt in every aspect of the game.

“We really set up a lot of the things we did from a defensive standpoint with ball screens based on her ability,” Morris said. “She’s tough. She can draw fouls and she really just starts everything for their offense.”

The Razorbacks raced out to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter behind some hot shooting but Samford (0-2) responded with a variety of baskets around the rim. The Bulldogs took advantage of screens, slipping the screening player to the paint for easy layups.

“You can’t do it all the time because it won’t be effective,”

Morris said. “When we did it, we got some easy buckets, but throughout the course of the game you can’t necessarily do it.”

Instead of ditching the man-to-man defense, Neighbors elected to increase Thomas’ minutes instead. The 6-foot-1 freshman’s length made her more of a challenge to drive on in the post. The Hogs also made a few tweaks defensively to de- ny Samford’s screens.

“We had to make a personnel change, and Taylah came in and did a great job,” Neighbors said. “We made a schematic change at halftime, and I thought that was the difference.”

Hannah Nichols led Samford with 17 points.

The Razorbacks will play in their first road game of the season when they head to Nebraska on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.