FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas women's basketball team can't overwhelm opponents with waves of bench personnel like the Razorbacks men's team. Their shooting and scoring haven't been special this season either.
But the Razorbacks have played great defense, rebounded and scrapped for loose balls, and those are big reasons why they are 6-0 and ranked No. 25 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll heading into tonight's game against South Dakota State at Walton Arena.
No. 25 Arkansas vs. South Dakota State
WHEN 7 p.m.
WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville
RECORDS South Dakota St. 4-2, Arkansas 6-0
RADIO KQSM-FM, 92.1, Fayetteville; KFPW-AM, 1230, Fort Smith; KFPW-FM, 94.5, Fort Smith; KURM-AM, 790, Rogers; KURMFM, 100.3, Rogers. KABZ-FM, 103.7, Little Rock will air the game on tape delay.
INTERNET arkansasrazorbacks.…
TICKETS $5 adults, $3 youth (high school and younger), $2 for groups of 10 or more.
TEAM COMPARISON
South Dakota St.; Arkansas
66.3 Points for 70.8
64.5 Points against 50.2
+6.3 Rebound margin +18.8
-5.3 Turnover margin -2.0
41.4 FG pct. 42.0
32.5 3-pt pct. 35.3
72.7 FT pct. 65.4
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Macy Miller, 6-0, Fr. 7.7 4.0 G/F Megan Waytashek, 6-0, Sr. 14.3 4.7 G/F Chynna Stevens, 6-0, So. 6.5 4.7 G/F Kerri Young, 6-0, So. 10.5 2.0 F Mariah Clarin, 6-1, Fr. 13.0 7.8 COACH Aaron Johnston (345-119 in 15th season at South Dakota State)
ARKANSAS
POS. NAME, HT, YR PPG RPG G Calli Berna, 5-10, Sr. 5.5 5.0 G Kelsey Brooks, 5-9, So. 15.5 7.0 G Melissa Wolff, 6-0, Jr. 10.7 9.0 F Jessica Jackson, 6-3, So. 16.8 7.2 F Jhasmin Bowen, 6-1, Sr. 10.8 7.5 COACH Jimmy Dykes (6-0 in first season at Arkansas)
CHALK TALK Arkansas is No.1 in the NCAA RPI rankings, No. 3 in rebounding margin (+18.8), and No. 9 in scoring defense (50.2). … Arkansas’ Kelsey Brooks won MVP honors at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout last weekend, scoring a career-best 24 points in an upset of Iowa and totaling 41 points and 14 rebounds and making 12 of 24 shots in the two games. … The Jackrabbits’ Megan Waytashek has scored 1,040 points and is second among active Summit League players in scoring. … South Dakota State is 6-2 all-time vs. SEC teams and 3-2 vs. teams from Arkansas. … The Jackrabbits won their first regular-season tournament since 2005 last weekend at the UNLV Lady Rebel Roundup. … South Dakota State is 3-14 against ranked teams since the 2004-05 season.
"We're not a really pretty basketball team to watch," said Jimmy Dykes, who is in his first season as the Razorbacks coach. "We can go stretches without scoring, but we don't go stretches without fighting."
Dykes and his staff put together a highlight reel from the Razorbacks' victories over No. 16 Iowa and Richmond that gave Arkansas a victory in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas last weekend, and the clips revolved around winning loose balls, taking charges and winning battles for rebounds.
"I would say the big difference that I've noticed in this team is that whenever things start to go badly or maybe not how they're planned ... we don't fall down and we don't give up," senior guard Calli Berna said. "That's a big, big difference that I've seen this year. We have the ability to take a few hits and keep going and keep pushing forward."
Sophomore guard Kelsey Brook noted that last season the Razorbacks lost a lot of games in the final minutes.
"That's not us this year," she said.
The Razorbacks not only broke into the AP rankings this week, they also were listed No. 1 in the season's first NCAA release of RPI rankings, which factor in strength of schedule and performance.
The Razorbacks are No. 3 nationally in rebounding margin at plus-18.8 per game, No. 9 in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 50.2 points per game, and No. 11 in field goal defense (31.6 percent).
"We have to just keep doing what we do, and that's trying to be fighters every minute and trying to be tough when we're on the floor," Dykes said. "Right now that's showing up in our rebound advantage numbers and in our field-goal percentage defense.
"If we continue to be tough and fight, then I'll be fine as a head coach if we win or lose. If we lose that, then we're going to be in trouble."
The Razorbacks have a tough two-game homestand against South Dakota State followed by No. 18 Rutgers on Sunday before heading back on the road next week.
South Dakota State (4-2) was an overwhelming choice to win the Summit League in preseason voting. The Jackrabbits also were victorious in Las Vegas last weekend, defeating Northern Illinois (55-42) and UNLV (65-59) to win the UNLV Lady Rebel Round-Up on Sunday.
The starting five for the Jackrabbits are all 6-0 or taller, led by 6-0 senior swingman Megan Waytashek, who averages 14.3 points per game, and 6-1 senior forward Mariah Clarin, who averages 13 points and 7.8 rebounds.
"South Dakota State is traditionally really, really good and they're very well-coached," Dykes said. "They have tremendous size in their starting lineup. ... They have a pretty good offensive system that's really difficult to defend."
Sports on 12/04/2014