FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas ’ point guard got her points Friday night.

Shanita Arnold, a sophomore from Fort Smith Northside who took over as the Razorbacks ’ starting point guard this season, had a career-high 22 points to lead Arkansas to a 78-69 victory over SMU at Walton Arena.

“Their little point guard went off on us,” Mustangs Coach Rhonda Rompola said. “She played very well.

“ Somebody told me she hadn’t shot like that since high school, so hey, I’m glad the Mustangs can bring the best out of her.”

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By halftime, Arnold had a career high, more than double her season average with 15 points, and was 5 of 6 on threepoint shots.

Her previous career high was 11 points against Tulsa last year and she averaged 6. 0 points in the first two games this season.

As a senior at Northside she averaged 18. 5 points, but as an Arkansas freshman she averaged 1. 8 points as she made the adjustment to college basketball.

“I think everyone in the state that’s followed her knows that she’s capable of what she did tonight,” Arkansas Coach Tom Collen said. “I’ve told her I don’t need her to be my leading scorer every night. I think if she goes out there and seeks to do that, on most nights we’re going to get in trouble.

“ But when the first shot went down tonight, it gave her a little spark of confidence, and when the next one went down I think she probably went into that invincibility mode.

“ And she got hot, and God love her, because we wouldn’t have been in the game in the first half if she hadn’t shot the ball like she did.”

After SMU (0-2 ) rallied from a 41-35 halftime deficit to tie the game at 55, Arnold hit a threepointer to start a 12-4 run that put the Razorbacks (3-0 ) ahead 67-59 with 5: 32 left.

Freshman Ceira Ricketts helped key the run with three driving baskets, two after Arkansas steals.

SMU (0-2 ) didn’t get closer than four points the rest of the game.

Arnold finished 7 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 11 on three-pointers.

“It feels good because we won,” she said.

Ricketts had 18 points and Arkansas senior guard Ayana Brereton had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Besides Arnold, the rest of the Razorbacks were 1 of 16 on threepointers, and Collen said her perimeter shooting was critical because SMU handled Arkansas’ press well and limited scoring opportunities off turnovers.

Junior forward Delisha Wills led SMU with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Arkansas improved to 22-4 against SMU, a former Southwest Conference rival, and won its 26 th consecutive nonconference game.

“I was happy with the win,” Collen said. “There certainly are a lot of things that we’ve got to work on to get better, but I thought SMU is the best team we’ve played so far.”

Collen said he doesn’t expect Arnold to keep scoring 20-plus points, but that she can average 10 to 12 points.

“I think Shanita can score on a consistent basis and is always going to hit crucial shots and make people worry about her,” Collen said. “People that see this tape are going to decide they need to get out and guard her a little bit more, and that’s going to open it up for some of our other kids.”

SUN BELT WOMEN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI ST. 57, UALR 45 CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The foulplagued UALR women’s team never got its offense going in a loss to Southeast Missouri State at the Show Me Center. Anshel Cooper scored 16 points to lead the Trojans, but foul trouble kept her, Kim Sitzmann, Chastity Reed and Asriel Rolfe on the bench for large portions of the game. And an 11-0 run by Southeast Missouri State, primarily with those three on the bench, was the difference. It turned a 35-33 lead by UALR into a 44-35 lead by Southeast Missouri State.

The Redhawks (3-0 ) were led by Sonya Dougherty’s 19 points. Crista Glenn added 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Cooper and Rolfe, who had six points, fouled out in the final minute. Reed finished with three points and fouled out with 4: 54 to play. Sitzmann didn’t foul out, but finished 0 of 6 from the field and didn’t score. It was the first scoreless game of her 66-game Trojans career.

“We struggled offensively. Any time I’ve got to take Anshel or any of those four off the floor, we don’t have a whole lot of depth to begin with, we lose a lot of rhythm,” UALR Coach Joe Foley said.

Mattilyn McIntyre added 8 points for the Trojans (2-1 ), while Channon Haywood had 6 points and 8 rebounds.