Eight newcomers on Dykes' roster

FAYETTEVILLE -- The new-look Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team will be on display this afternoon against NCAA Division II member Missouri Southern State in Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes begins his second season at the helm, but he's got eight newcomers on the roster -- including five freshmen. It will be the lone exhibition game before opening the regular-season by hosting Southeastern Louisiana at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

"We're obviously excited about Sunday afternoon," Dykes said in a news conference earlier this week. "We're treating it just like a real game. With eight new players, every day is a brand new experience for us. It's a steep learning curve for us right now."

However, the Razorbacks return three players, who each averaged more than 32 minutes per game last season. Junior Jessica Jackson leads the way, averaging a team-best 14.9 points per game last season. Junior guard Kelsey Brooks also averaged more than 13 points per game, while senior Melissa Wolff was solid offensively and defensively.

Dykes said defense and rebounding will be focal points today. He believes this year's team has more speed and quickness, which could lead to some points off their defense.

"That's our biggest concern probably as a staff right now, where we are," Dykes said. "We're not where we were last year at that level. That's the only reason we won games. So we're trying to drive home the point every day in practice how important our defense and rebounding is going to be to us.

"I think we can score a little easier this year, at least I'm hoping we can. We weren't very good at scoring last year. We were good at fighting though."

Missouri Southern returns three starters from last year's team, including leading scorer Sharese Jones, who averaged 13.7 points and 7.3 rebounds a year ago.

Sports on 11/08/2015