UA women look to shake slow starts

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas women’s basketball Coach Mike Neighbors is trying to figure out why slow starts plague his team.

The Razorbacks (4-2) trailed at halftime in each of their past two games but used a strong second half to rally past New Mexico State for a 69-60 victory over the weekend to finish off play in the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic in El Paso, Texas. A furious rally a day earlier couldn’t erase a 20-point deficit in a 64-61 loss to UTEP.

Arkansas has led at halftime in only two of seven games, including the exhibition game against Northeastern (Okla.) State. But it has won five of those seven games.

It’s a trend Neighbors hopes to change.

“We don’t know yet,” Neighbors said. “It could be as simple as we’re getting to the gym too early. I’m not changing personnel yet. That’s always a last resort to me. Because the exact same five that start the game come out like gangbusters in the third quarter.

“I’ve got a couple of friends who think they’re real clever. They want me to change my halftime speech to my pregame speech. It could be something tactical. It could be something not tactical. But the slow starts have got to change by the time we get to conference play because I think comebacks are going to be a lot tougher to come by in those situations.”

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville begins a stretch of six of its next eight games at home after four consecutive road games. The Razorbacks host Abilene Christian tonight.

The Wildcats (3-1) fell 6544 last week at SMU. Former Razorback McKenzie Adams poured in a game-high 20 points for SMU in the victory.

A positive trend for the Razorbacks has been the play of Devin Cosper and Malica Monk. Monk, a 5-5 junior point guard, leads the team with 19.5 points per game to go with a more than 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Cosper, a 5-10 senior, is close behind, averaging 19.3 points per game to go with a team-best 7.8 rebounds.

Cosper has told Neighbors his confidence in her has helped her get off to a good start. She’s already made 23 three-pointers in six games — the same number she made in 29 games last season.

“She doesn’t look over her shoulder and worry about coming in or coming out,” Neighbors said. “She’s developed a niche rebounding as well. I’ve always said our best rebounders are going to play. She’s continually been one of our better rebounders, so I think she’s adapted to the style of play being a little faster and a little bit more wide open.

“She and I really communicate well, have a good understanding of her expectations. Her role is clearly defined. She’s continued to add to that.”