FAYETTEVILLE — “Play man.”
Arkansas women’s Coach Jimmy Dykes said he repeated those words to himself for two days leading up to Sunday’s 64-52 victory against No. 24 Missouri in Bud Walton Arena. He said it again when he awoke at 2 a.m. and again at 6 a.m. on game day. But by the time the 2 p.m. tip rolled around, Dykes didn’t listen to himself.
Instead, the Razorbacks (8-10, 3-2 SEC) opened in a zone defense, resulting in a 14-4 deficit midway through the first quarter.
“I didn’t go with my gut,” Dykes said. “[We] started off in zone and I told them at halftime, the first 10 points are on me. From here on out, it’s on you. We’re going to [play] pressure-man defense and we won the ball game.”
While he’s trying to build a “man-to-man program,” Dykes said that “zone’s been good to us.” During a timeout with 4:34 remaining in the first quarter, Dykes said he “challenged” his team to switch to man defense. Because of it, the Razorbacks scored the final eight points of the first quarter and outscored the Tigers 20-9 in the second quarter to take a 32-28 halftime lead.
“They stepped up and got it done,” Dykes said. “We climbed up into them and got them real uncomfortable. That’s probably what turned the game around for us.”
From Missouri’s perspective, the Hogs’ defensive switch wasn’t the only frustrating thing. The Tigers (15-3, 2-3), who were coming off a 66-54 home victory against then-No. 6 Mississippi State on Thursday, were 5 of 9 from threepoint range in the first quarter, but only hit 3 of their next 15 attempts from beyond the arc.
“I think we got deflated,” Missouri Coach Robin Pinketon. “We got frustrated with some of the foul calls when they were getting to the freethrow line and that’s a lot of stop of play, kind of getting [us out of] a rhythm and flow.
“And we didn’t handle that very well from a mentality standpoint.”
Arkansas was 29 of 39 from the free throw line while Missouri was 10 of 16. Pinketon credited the Razorbacks’ effort by saying how they “outworked” and “outplayed” her Tigers, especially on the boards. Led by 10 rebounds each from Alecia Cooley and Melissa Wolff, Dykes said Arkansas “punished” the Tigers by outrebounding them 42-28, including a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass, which led to 12 second-chance points..
Another defference maker for the Razorbacks was Wolff’s defense on Missouri freshman guard Sophie Cunningham. The program’s first former Mc-Donald’s All-American was averaging a team-high 14.7 points, but Wolff helped limit her to a single field goal as she finished with six points.
TOP 25 SEC WOMEN
NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA 59,
NO. 15 TEXAS A&M 58
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Khadijah Sessions hit the game-winning free throw with 0.9 seconds left after an inexplicable foul, lifting No. 2 South Carolina (17-0, 5-0 SEC) to a victory over No. 15 Texas A&M (13-5, 3-2).
The Aggies had tied the game on an 80-foot baseball-style pass from Taylor Cooper to Chelsea Jennings with a second left before surprisingly Shlonte Allen grabbed Sessions on the ensuing inbounds pass. Sessions missed her first attempt before swishing the second to seal the victory. She had missed one of two free throws moments before allowing the Aggies a chance to tie.
A’ja Wilson had 26 points, 8 rebounds and 8 blocked shots for South Carolina. Jordan Jones had 17 points and Courtney Walker 16 to lead Texas A&M.
NO. 9 KENTUCKY 54,
AUBURN 47
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Taylor Murray scored a career-high 14 points to lead Kentucky (14-2, 3-2 SEC) to a victory over Auburn (12-6, 2-3).
Murray hit a clutch three-pointer with 1:40 remaining after Auburn rallied from a 47-37 deficit to pull within 47-45. Kentucky made four of six free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.
Brandy Montgomery finished with 15 points for Auburn.
NO. 20 FLORIDA 53, LSU 46
GAINSVILLE, Fla. — Eleanna Christinaki scored 15 points and Florida rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat LSU.
The Gators (15-3, 3-2 SEC) trailed 38-33 entering the fourth quarter but Ronni Williams made two layups and Christinaki had a three-pointer and a layup to turn a six-point deficit into a 44-41 lead with four minutes left.
Alexis Hyder had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
Sports on 01/18/2016