Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Got Tigers by the tail
Arkansas women handily defeat Grambling State 79-62.
ARKANSAS 79, GRAMBLING STATE 62
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors jokingly accused forward Kiara Williams of padding her stats Thursday night.
The sophomore forward recorded a 12-point, 16-rebound double-double — the second of her career — to lead Arkansas to a 79-62 win against Grambling State in Bud Walton Arena.
“Just go get it,” Williams said of her aggressive play. “That’s always been my mentality: see the ball, go get it and ask questions later.”
The 16 boards matched a career-high set on Dec. 3 at Kansas in a 71-60 loss. Her efforts — 13 first-half rebounds — also provided the Razorbacks (9-4) a 48-35 advantage on the glass against the Lady Tigers.
“She has to battle against 6-3 and 6-4 many nights, so her effort then on nights when there’s not a 6-3 or 6-4 in there she gets rewarded a little bit more,” Neighbors said of Williams. “A couple of those were her own misses. … Not very often do we have a size advantage, but I thought tonight we exploited it pretty good.”
Four Razorbacks finished in double figures in the win, led by 16 from Devin Cosper. Grambling State was Arkansas’ first test since an 89-43 loss at Arizona State on Dec. 21 — the program’s worst loss in nearly two years — when the Razorbacks shot
30 percent and made only 4-of-18 3-point attempts.
Neighbors’ club found the touch from deep against the 3-8 Lady Tigers, connecting on 11-of-20 after three quarters before missing its final four. It was a collective effort, too, as Cosper accounted for four triples, Raven Northcross-Baker added three and Keiryn Swenson and Jailyn Mason hit two apiece.
It marked the fourth time this season Arkansas hit 10 or more 3-pointers.
“They spread you out, and (Malica) Monk does a great job attacking the paint trying to sink you in to help on those different drives, which opens up a lot of those shots on the outside,” Grambling State coach Freddy Murray said. “In the first half we kept telling our players not to help off so much, but telling them and them actually doing it was two different things.”
When asked about his team’s long-distance shooting, Neighbors said he feels like it has even better nights ahead. He also alluded to the players’ increased comfort level shooting in Walton Arena as a factor.
“This is normally the time of year when we get our legs underneath us,” he said. “Our shot quality has continued to improve. … I see how we shoot it in practice.”
Monk’s praise from Murray was well-deserved. The 5-5 junior guard finished with 10 points and 10 assists, bouncing back from a tough start that saw her commit three turnovers in the opening minutes.
She then went on to hand out six of her 10 assists after halftime against just two miscues.
“I don’t worry about it with Malica,” Neighbors said. “I know she’s going to settle in. The last thing I’m going to do is try to take her aggressiveness away from her. If I jump on her I think she gets tentative, and I don’t ever want to have a tentative guard.
“I thought she was really mature, held her composure, and then she made some of those adaptations. That’s the hard way to get a double-double.”
The Arkansas defense was stout, holding Grambling State to 38 percent shooting and 7-of-27 from beyond the arc. Ariel Williams led the Lady Tigers with 16 points on 6-of-12 from the floor and three assists.
The Razorbacks return to the floor Sunday against Ole Miss to open Southeastern Conference play. Tipoff from Bud Walton Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN CENTRAL ARKANSAS 58, TAMU-CORPUS CHRISTI 50
The University of Central Arkansas women held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi without a field goal for nearly 14 minutes over the second and third quarters, then built a lead as large as 17 points in the fourth quarter in their Southland Conference opener at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Sugar Bears (8-4, 1-0 Southland) limited the Islanders (7-5, 0-1) to a season-low point total on 34 percent shooting.
Taylor Baudoin had 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for the Sugar Bears, while Kierra Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds. UCA’s Kamry Orr made 4 of 5 three-pointers and finished with 15 points. She also had 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, while Taylor Sells had a team-high 4 assists to go with 5 points and 4 rebounds.
SOUTHLAND MEN CENTRAL ARKANSAS 81, TAMU-CORPUS-CHRISTI 69
“This is normally the time of year when we get our legs underneath us. Our shot quality has continued to improve. … I see how we shoot it in practice.” — Arkansas women’s basketball coach Mike Neighbors
Junior guard Thatch Unruh tied a career high and the University of Central Arkansas Bears opened Southland Conference play with a victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Farris Center in Conway.
It was the third time in 12 times since joining the league in 2006-07 that UCA (7-7, 1-0) had won its Southland opener.
Unruh scored 20 points to lead three Bears in double figures. Senior Jordan Howard chipped in 18 points, and senior Mathieu Kamba added 13 points and 6 rebounds. Freshman center Hayden Koval had four of his seven blocked shots in the opening half, tying the school single-game record for the second time this season with 7 blocks.
The Bears enjoyed as much as a 16-point lead in the first half before leading 41-31 margin at the break.
The Islanders (3-8, 0-1) got within five points at 49-44 at the 14:34 mark. Senior Joseph Kilgore led the Islanders with 23 points. Freshman Sean Rhea added 16 points, hitting 8 of 10 free-throw attempts.