Talent-laden Lions trouble Neighbors
FAYETTEVILLE — There is a final hurdle for the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team to clear to complete a sweep of in-state opponents this season.
It is one seventh-year Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said is “probably going to be our biggest challenge” in such games.
The Razorbacks (8-2) host Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a team loaded with former highly-rated recruits, today at 1 p.m on the SEC Network.
Headlining the Golden Lions’ skilled roster is senior guard Zaay Green, who was originally a 5-star and No. 10 overall prospect in the class of 2018 by ESPN HoopGurlz.
Green played two seasons at Tennessee from 2018-20, transferred to Texas A&M for the 2020-21 season and after battling an injury is in her first season with UAPB. The 6-2 guard from Duncanville, Texas, is averaging 19.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
“She’s obviously an SEC player,” Neighbors said of Green, who has won Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the week honors three times this season. “Zaay, she’s multidimensional. She’s explosive. She can get her shot whenever she wants it. She can change the game on both ends. There’s a reason everybody in the country wanted her coming out of high school.”
UAPB (3-7) has played four games against teams from power conferences. The Golden Lions opened the season with back-to-back losses at Oregon State and at Oregon. Then they were defeated on consecutive days over the Thanksgiving break by thenNo. 25 Mississippi State and Clemson.
Neighbors said how the Golden Lions competed in some of those games was impressive. They lost 95-74 to Oregon State in their opener and 77-68 to Mississippi State.
“Just look at who they’ve played,” Neighbors said. “They had Mississippi State to the last minute [and] had Oregon State on the ropes, so they are no stranger to these games. I really have a lot of respect for what [UAPB Coach Dawn Thornton] has done down there and how she does it. It’ll be a scary game preparing.”
Maori Davenport, a senior 6-5 center, was a 5-star and the No. 14 recruit in the class of 2019. She played at Georgia and Rutgers before ending up at UAPB. Davenport was a preseason All-SWAC second-team selection and averages 6 points and 5.8 rebounds, and has a team-high 11 blocks.
Coriah Beck is the daughter of Razorback men’s basketball great Corey Beck and played at Fayetteville High School. She was named to the preseason All-SWAC first team and is second for UAPB with 9.6 points per game.
“Dawn’s done an absolutely unbelievable job down there,” Neighbors said following the Razorbacks’ 100-60 win over Louisiana Tech on Thursday. “I talked on their radio the other day a little prematurely ahead of time about them. She’s put a roster together down there that rivals some teams in the bigger conferences.”
The Golden Lions added forward Starr Jacobs from the NCAA transfer portal in August. She was the 2023 Western Athletic Conference player of the year while at Texas-Arlington, where she averaged 20.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.4 assists last season.
Jacobs has not been cleared to play yet, but Neighbors is not ruling out her availability.
“I’m just figuring it’s going to be our luck that she’s going to become eligible,” Neighbors said.
The Razorbacks are 3-0 against in-state teams this season. They defeated Arkansas-Little Rock 77-36, Arkansas State on the road 82-67 and Central Arkansas 81-67.