Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Clamping down
No. 13 Kentucky women use defense to put away No. 10 Arkansas.
NO. 13 KENTUCKY 75, NO. 10 ARKANSAS 64
No. 13 Kentucky put the clamps on a high- scoring University of Arkansas offense and turned the tables from the three-point line to claim a 75-64 victory over the No. 10 Razorbacks at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington Ky., on Thursday night.
The Wildcats held Arkansas far below their 91 points per game average and to just 24% from three-point range as they pulled away late in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Arkansas (9-2, 0-1) never led in the fourth quarter but got within 63-60 on Erynn Barnum’s layup with 3:19 left. But Kentucky’s Blair Green countered with a three-pointer from the corner with 2:40 left and Arkansas’ only other field goal came by Barnum just before the final buzzer.
Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors credited Kentucky for outplaying his team and snapping the Razorbacks’ six-game winning streak. Kentucky also hit 10 three-pointers, doubling Arkansas’ total.
“I thought they were great. I thought they were timely,” Neighbors said. “I thought they hit big shot after big shot and then [came
up] with loose balls and stops when they really needed it. Took us out of everything we like to do offensively at times and then they go 10-for-20 from the three-point line on top of all that.”
“I do think our kids played really, really incredibly hard and I do think we played OK. They’re just good.”
Rhyne Howard, last year’s SEC Player of the Year and a preseason All-American pick this year, led the way with a game-high 24 points, including 17 in the first half. The 6-2 junior added a game-high 10 rebounds and 4 assists for the Wildcats (8-1, 1-0). Green and KeKe McKinney added 10 points each.
Chelsea Dungee led Arkansas with 20 points, while Destiny Slocum added 12 points and 6 assists. Amber Ramirez chipped in 11 points on 3 three-pointers.
Neighbors said Kentucky’s length gave the Razorbacks fits much of the night.
Arkansas draws fouls and gets to the free-throw line better than any team in the country this year, but it made just 11 of 17 free throws. By comparison, the Razorbacks made 14 of 18 fourth-quarter free throws in their victory over Baylor earlier this season. In addition, Arkansas averages 10 made three-pointers per game, but managed just 5 of 21 against the Wildcats.
“It didn’t allow us to find open players,” Neighbors said. “We had Ramirez two or three times. We’d drive it baseline and she’d be open over there and you couldn’t see her. I mean we were all yelling at the bench because we could see her just fine. But guess what? We weren’t the one with the ball being trapped by three kids.
“That was their game plan I think, was to make sure we didn’t get to the foul line a whole bunch because that’s the two things. If we get to the foul line and make threes, that’s when we’re really tough to guard.”
The Razorbacks scored six consecutive points for a brief 46-45 lead on Dungee’s jumper with 2:16 left in the third quarter. But Kentucky finished the quarter with five in a row and never trailed again.
Arkansas led by as many as eight points early in the first half, but Kentucky roared back in the second quarter behind Howard. She had 12 points in the second quarter, to help the Wildcats to a 35-34 halftime lead.
The Razorbacks return home to take on Missouri on Sunday. Tip-off time is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Walton Arena. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
NO. 5 SOUTH CAROLINA 75, FLORIDA 59
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Aliyah Boston had a career-high 28 points along with 16 rebounds and No. 5 South Carolina opened SEC play with its 13th consecutive win over Florida.
Boston, the 6- 5 sophomore, was dominant throughout as the Gamecocks (6-1) won their third in a row since the season’s lone loss, to No. 3 North Carolina State, 54-46 on Dec. 3.
Zia Cooke had 26 points for the Gamecocks.
Lavender Briggs tied her career high with 23 points to lead the Gators.
NO. 3 N.C. STATE 84, GEORGIA TECH 75
ATLANTA — Jada Boyd scored a career-high 26 points, Jakia Brown-Turner added 19 and North Carolina State cruised past Georgia Tech for its ninth consecutive win.
Kayla Jones finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for N.C. State (9-0, 4-0 ACC).
Lotta- Maj Lahtinen scored a careerhigh 30 points to lead Georgia Tech (4-2, 2-1).
NO. 12 MISSISSIPPI ST. 69, GEORGIA 62
ATHENS, Ga. — Madison Hayes and Jessika Carter led a balanced attack with 13 points apiece and Mississippi State made 15 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter to hand Georgia its first loss.
Rickea Jackson added 11 points for Mississippi State (6-1).
Jenna Staiti led Georgia with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Que Morrison added 11 points for Georgia (8-1).
NO. 14 MARYLAND 96, PENN STATE 82
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ashley Owusu had a career- high 34 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Diamond Miller added 17 points and Maryland beat Penn State for its ninth consecutive win in the series.
Owusu, the reigning Big Ten freshman of the year, was 15 of 22 from the floor to help Maryland ( 6- 1, 2- 0 Big Ten) shoot 50%. She had 18 points and seven rebounds in the first half, including five points in a closing 9-2 run to give the Terrapins a 48-39 lead at the break.
Freshman Maddie Burke led Penn State (3-3, 0-2) with a season-best 24 points.
NEBRASKA 65, NO. 15 NORTHWESTERN 63
LINCOLN, Neb. — Sam Haiby made a putback just before the buzzer to left Nebraska past Northwestern.
Haiby drove from the right wing, spun into a double team and her scoop shot was short, but she grabbed the rebound and curled it in before getting mobbed by her teammates.
Haiby missed nearly four minutes of the fourth quarter after dealing with a leg cramp, but returned to make Nebraska’s only two field goals in the final three minutes. She finished with 18 points, on 8-of-20 shooting, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
Isabelle Bourne had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Ashley Scoggin also scored 11 points for Nebraska (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten). Lindsey Pulliam led Northwestern (4-1, 2-1) with 19 points.
NO. 16 MICHIGAN 92, WISCONSIN 49
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Leigha Brown scored 26 points, Naz Hillmon had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Michigan cruised past Wisconsin.
Amy Dilk added 15 points and Akienreh Johnson 13. for the Wolverines (60) in their Big Ten opener
The Badgers are 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten.
NO. 20 INDIANA 79, ILLINOIS 56
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Mackenzie Holmes scored 18 points, Grace Berger added 15 and Indiana beat Illinois for its 11th consecutive victory in the series
Indiana ( 6- 2, 4- 0 Big Ten) scored 23 points in the first quarter and held Illinois to 20 first-half points. Holmes scored 12 points in the first half as Indiana led by 22 points.
Kennedi Myles had 15 points and nine rebounds for Illinois (2-4, 0-3).