FAYETTEVILLE -- Six SEC women's basketball teams are in the top 20 of The Associated Press poll, including No. 1 South Carolina, so playing ranked opponents is a part of life in the conference.
Arkansas is receiving an early introduction to that top-20 experience three games into Jimmy Dykes' first SEC season.
The Razorbacks (10-5, 0-3) play No. 7 Tennessee (13-2, 3-0) at 2 p.m. today in Walton Arena, their third game against a top 15 opponent in eight days. The game will be nationally televised by ESPNU.
Texas A&M, ranked No. 5, beat Arkansas 52-50 last Sunday in Walton Arena on a last-second rebound basket by Achiri Ade. Then No. 14 Mississippi State beat the Razorbacks 72-57 on Thursday night in Starkville, Miss.
It's the first time Arkansas has played three consecutive top-15 opponents in the regular season. The only other time it happened was in the 1990 NCAA Tournament, when the No. 22 Razorbacks won at No. 7 Georgia, then went to Palo Alto, Calif., and beat No. 6 Stephen F. Austin and lost to No. 2 Stanford.
"It's hard to play three top-15 teams in a row," said Dykes, who returned to coaching this season after working at ESPN for several years. "It's very, very difficult, especially when you have nine players and it's a first-year staff.
"We're fighting through all this stuff together right now, but I don't tell them it's a challenge, I tell them it's a great opportunity. Man, it's a great opportunity to play Tennessee on national TV.
"If our fans hang with us, we're going to turn this program around."
Dykes said he's convinced more than ever that he made the right choice to take the Arkansas job and do something positive for his alma mater.
"My patience is being tested," he said. "I'm not a very patient person at all. I want us to win right now."
Dykes said he isn't going to accept the losses and will continue to press on with the goal of winning every game.
"It's going to happen for us," he said. "It might just take a little bit longer than I want it to be, but that's OK."
Mississippi State closed out its victory over Arkansas by outscoring the Razorbacks 18-2 over the final 6:20 after the Razorbacks had taken a 55-54 lead.
"We competed our guts out," Dykes said. "We just ran out of juice there at the end. Their depth got to us."
Arkansas senior forward Jhasmin Bowen didn't play the final 18 minutes against Mississippi State after sustaining an ankle injury, but she practiced Friday and Dykes said he expects her to play today.
"She's a tough kid," Dykes said.
Tennessee assistant coach Dean Lockwood told the Knoxville News-Sentinel that Bowen is one of the most underrated players in the SEC and that Arkansas is a gritty, hard-nosed team.
"Their kids are playing their roles very, very well," Lockwood said. "What they do is very basic, and that's a compliment. They're not trying to outtrick you. They have three or four things they're doing very well, and they have counters off that."
Lockwood praised the job Dykes is doing.
"He's an Arkansas guy," Lockwood said. "He's put a lot of pride back into who they are. They're playing right through the [game's] end."
Tennessee has won nine consecutive games, including an 81-58 victory over Texas A&M at home in which the Lady Vols shot 52.4 percent (33 of 63) from the field.
The Lady Vols lead the SEC with a plus-11.4 rebounding margin, led by 6-3 Isabelle Harrison and 6-2 Bashara Graves and Cierra Burdick, who average combined 23.5 rebounds.
"They're scoring off their defense and off second-chance points," Dykes said. "There's no way we can get in a high-scoring game with them.
"We have to be ready for a fight, so we have to put the gloves back on and see if we can land some more punches."
Sports on 01/11/2015