UA WOMEN 73, MISSOURI 55
FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas freshman McKinley Bostad took full advantage of her first college start Sunday afternoon.
Bostad, a 5-9 guard, made 4 of 7 from three-point shots and gave the Arkansas women's basketball team a big first-half offensive spark as the Razorbacks ended a four-game SEC losing streak, beating Missouri 73-55 in front of a season-high crowd of 4,299 at Walton Arena.
"I knew what I needed to do," said Bostad, who finished with 15 points.
Razorbacks Coach Jimmy Dykes said he opted to start Bostad over sophomore forward Jessica Jackson after Bostad had a good week of practice and after Jackson performed well off the bench last week against Tennessee.
Bostad said she figured she might get the start because she had been practicing with the starters, but that didn't mean she didn't have butterflies.
"Oh yeah, I was nervous, my first SEC start, but all the girls were supportive," Bostad said. "They told me, 'You got this.' "
Bostad hit her first three-pointer five minutes into the game and hit two more as Arkansas outscored Missouri 20-5 to turn a 12-10 deficit into a 30-17 lead with 2:50 left in the first half.
"Bostad did a nice job for them and provided a lot of energy," Missouri Coach Robin Pingeton said. "We knew she could hit [the three-point shot], we just didn't think she would be looking for the shot that quick in their offense."
The Razorbacks (11-6, 1-4 SEC) were 8 of 19 on three-point attempts and finished shooting 37.5 percent from the field. Arkansas outrebounded the Tigers 48-32 and had a 20-8 advantage in second-chance points.
"The key to this game was how relentless they were on the offensive boards and it snowballed on us," Pingeton said. "I thought defensively we were doing a decent job. We were just allowing so many second-shot opportunities and that kind of deflated us in a big way in the first half."
The Razorbacks outrebounded the Tigers 26-14 in the first half and relied on free-throw shooting when their offense quieted midway through second half.
Two baskets from Jhasmin Bowen and a three-pointer from Bostad helped the Razorbacks push its lead to as many as 22 with 11:51 left in the game.
Arkansas scored one field goal in the final 11:15 of the game -- a layup from Kelsey Brooks with 6:37 left -- but hit 19 of 23 free throws to seal the victory.
Dykes said Missouri went to a 1-3-1 zone, which threw Arkansas off for a couple possessions.
"The game tightened down on us a little bit," Dykes said, "and then they started fouling us with four or five minutes to go."
Missouri (11-8, 1-5), which entered the game averaging an SEC-best 6.8 three-pointers per game, was 5 of 24 from three-point range on Sunday and finished shooting 33.3 percent (20 of 60).
Dykes said his team deserved to win Sunday.
"Our defense was outstanding," Dykes said.
Brooks scored 21 to lead the Razorbacks, including a second half when she hit 11 of 12 free throws. Bowen added 12.
Jackson played 20 minutes off the bench, scoring 8 points with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
"It feels amazing," Brooks said of Arkansas' first SEC victory. "We came out ready to go and everyone worked together."
Having a week off to prepare and rest helped too, Brooks said.
"It was really big, especially since we suffered those four losses," she said. "It helped us mentally and physically."
Jordan Frericks had 15 and Michaelis 12 for the Tigers.
The Razorbacks' first SEC victory under Dykes comes after four consecutive losses, including three to teams ranked in the top 15.
"I know we are 1-4 but we have 11 games left," Dykes said. "We wiped away the first four games from our mind on Wednesday when I got them back together and said, 'we are 0-0, we have 12 games left to fight. Let's see what we can do.'
"So we are 1-0 in our new season."
Arkansas travels to Vanderbilt on Thursday and Florida on Sunday before returning home against Auburn on Jan. 29.
Sports on 01/19/2015