Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas beats No. 15 Texas A&M in tourney
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Down early, down late, it didn’t seem to matter a bit. Arkansas didn’t panic, and now the Razorbacks will play for their first ever SEC tournament championship.
Arkansas rallied from 10 points down with just over six minutes remaining and closed the game on a 20-2 run for a 58-51 win over Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament Semifinals at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. on Saturday.
Arkansas (20-13), which finished 6-10 in the SEC but has won three straight in three days including twice against ranked teams, will play No. 1-seeded Mississippi State today at 1 p.m.
“I couldn’t be more proud that it’s with this group of kids,” Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. “We’re a blended family.
“We dealt with things. We didn’t back down from one challenging situation all year … a small deficit isn’t anything compared to what this group has fought through and come out of on the other side, a team that I’m just really, really proud of.”
Sophomore standout Chelsea Dungee, who combined for 62 points in the last two games, started slow but finished with a team-high 17 points. Jailyn Mason added 15 for the Razorbacks, who struggled to find a rhythm early, but rallied in the fourth quarter from seemingly out of nowhere to secure an improbable win.
Through 3½ quarters the Aggies (24-7) controlled the game in the low post. Ciera Johnson scored
a game-high 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. N’dea Jones had 14 points and 14 boards as A&M led by as many as 16 in the second quarter.
Arkansas, which started 1-of-10 on 3-point shooting and didn’t attempt a free throw until the fourth quarter, didn’t get closer than seven until halfway through the final period.
And that’s when the Razorbacks rallied.
“We buckled down,” Neighbors said. “It seemed like in the fourth quarter we got every 50-50 ball. Then we created some we probably shouldn’t have 50-50.”
Down 51-41, Arkansas started hitting shots. Raven Northcross-Baker, Alexis Tolefree and Jailyn Mason connected on back-to-backto-back threes in a 2-minute stretch, cutting the lead to 51-50 with 4:05 left.
“They were so locked in,” Neighbors said. “I think that was the difference in the end of the game and the beginning of the game.”
A pair of Mason free throws moments later gave the Razorbacks their first lead of the game, and with 1:03 left, Dungee popped outside and connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing to push the lead to 55-51.
“I thought they outtoughed us,” Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. “They made threes down the stretch. They got the offensive rebounds on long rebounds on hustle plays. Those are the things that a
championship team has to do to win, or it will cause you to lose. That’s what happened to us.
“We got beat by the hottest team in the SEC, not the best team, but the hottest team,” Blair said. “Sometimes that’s all you have to be during tournament time.”
Texas A&M made four of its first six shots to start the game on a 9-2 run in the opening four minutes. Dungee picked up two fouls within the first five minutes as the Aggies built a 17-2 lead.
But the Razorbacks settled down later in the quarter. Dungee got her first bucket on a runner to cut the lead to 19-6, then hit a three off a screen following a A’Tyanna Gaulden steal and score as Arkansas pulled to within 19-11 to end the first quarter.
“You don’t want coach Blair to have the clipboard in his hand,” Neighbors said. “If he can sit over there and draw something up, they’re going to get the ball where they want it. When we were able to string together some consecutive stops, he wasn’t able to call his plays over
there. I think that’s one advantage to having sat on his bench for a couple of years.”
A&M went to the post with six straight points by Jones and Johnson to open the second quarter and extend the lead to 25-11. But later in the second quarter, Northcross-Baker connected on a three from the right wing for Arkansas, and after Gaulden drained a jumper, Dungee hit her second 3-pointer with 1:02 left in the second quarter to make it 29-21 just before halftime.
“Arkansas better realize what they have in (Neighbors),” said Blair, a former Arkansas head coach who brought Neighbors on to his staff in 1999. “He’s a special coach.”
After three straight upset wins, Arkansas may need the biggest yet today against Mississippi State and coach Vic Schaefer, another former Arkansas assistant, for the Razorbacks to have the chance to make the NCAA Tournament
“I’ve always been a believer,” Dungee said. With this group of girls, I know this is a special year. This is the year that we can accomplish so many things. This is a special group.”
NO. 5 MISSISSIPPI STATE 71, MISSOURI 56
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mississippi State Coach Vic Schaefer has reached this point before. He’d like a much different ending today at the SEC Tournament championship.
Teaira McCowan had 27 points and 16 rebounds while teammate Anriel Howard had 19 points and 10 boards as the No. 5 Bulldogs pulled away from Missouri 71-56 on Saturday to advance to their fourth consecutive finals appearance. Schaefer urged his team to take that last step to a title after losing the past three championship games to South Carolina.
“I’m tired of having confetti hit my backside as I walk to the locker room,” Schaefer said.
He told his players soon after the game, “It’s one more for the rest of your life,” he said. “What have you got?”
In McCowan and Howard, the Bulldogs (29-2) have one of the most potent combos in the SEC. The two have combined for 89 points and 45 rebounds in two tournament games. And the two are developing a stronger bond each time they hit the court, Schaefer said.
“They’re finally getting some chemistry between them,” he said. “Enjoying
the success of each other.”
McCowan is the 6-foot-7 force underneath who won SEC player of the year this week. Howard is a grad transfer from Texas A&M who has worked to fit into a veteran team that had reached the Final Four each of the previous two seasons.
“To be able to be out there together every day (at practice), you’ll get chemistry eventually,” Howard said. “We’re showing we can be a pretty good duo.”
They were that against Missouri (2310), the only SEC opponent to defeat them the past two regular seasons.
Mississippi State will face either No. 15 Texas A&M or 10th-seeded Arkansas for the SEC tournament title. Four-time defending SEC tournament champion South Carolina was beaten by Arkansas in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Sophie Cunningham scored a season-high 33 points for Missouri (2310). She had five of the Tigers’ nine three-pointers before fouling out.
The Tigers bettered Mississippi State down low in their last meeting, McCowan bothered by fouls. This time, McCowan and Howard were relentless in attacking the basket and Mississippi State doubled up Missouri in points in the paint, 48-24.
Tigers Coach Robin Pingeton said her team tried to attack McCowan in a similar fashion without much success. “We had our hands full,” she said. “We just didn’t do a good job with that.”
When Missouri cut a 16-point lead down to 43-38 off Cunningham’s 11 consecutive points late in the third quarter, SEC player of the year McCowan powered an 11-3 surge with eight points.
As they did in their quarterfinal victory over Tennessee, the Bulldogs started slowly and with Cunningham scoring seven points for the Tigers, found themselves down 14-11. But as in the 83-68 win over the Lady Vols, the Bulldogs got it rolling in the second quarter.
McCowan was front and center in the charge with four baskets, all from close in. Howard did her thing from the outside, too, with a three-pointer and another jumper to put Mississippi State up by 13.
McCowan accomplished her 26th game this season with double figure points and rebounds with 12 points and 10 boards by halftime.