FAYETTEVILLE -- Northwestern State was able to hang around against No. 21 Arkansas women's basketball team for about the first five minutes on Sunday afternoon in Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks then went on a 24-0 run, holding the Lady Demons scoreless for almost 10 minutes, en route to a dominating 99-39 victory.
Arkansas (10-1) hit three of its first four shots to grab an 8-0 lead, but Northwestern State (3-5) responded to tie the game at 8, 11 and 13. But Taylah Thomas converted a three-point play with 4 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first quarter to give Arkansas the lead for good, 16-13.
The Razorbacks finished the opening quarter 13-0, then picked right up where they left off in the second quarter with 11 consecutive points. Northwestern State finally broke the streak when Victoria Miller hit the second of two free throws to get the Lady Demons within 37-14 with 5:10 left in the first half.
Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said the Razorbacks are getting contributions from several different players. Arkansas also got good work on its zone defense, which forced 21 Lady Demon turnovers, created 16 steals and helped fuel 32 fast-break points.
"It's a tribute to how well everybody is playing right now," Neighbors said. "Everybody you put in can score and everybody you can put in is not turning it over. And everybody you put in is spacing the floor and rebounding and defending. Our defense was as good as it's been all year long."
"To be able to extend it, press a little bit out of it and fall back to it, we felt like were really doing a good job of putting them in positions they weren't used to taking shots and sped them up a little bit as well. It's going to be imperative that we be able to play some zone."
Amber Ramirez keyed the early run with two of her six first-half three-pointers. The 5-10 junior finished with a game-high 21 points, all on 3-pointers in just 22 minutes of action. She hit 7 of 12 from three-point range. But she had plenty of help in the scoring category.
Ramirez said she's been in a little shooting slump lately, but credited her teammates for continuing to look for her.
"My teammates have confidence in me to keep giving me the ball," said Ramirez, who managed just 3-of-10 from three-point range in her last two games combined. "Once one goes in, they keep feeding me. They just keep going after that."
Erynn Barnum added 14 points and A'Tyanna Gaulden chipped in 11 off the bench. Chelsea Dungee added 12 points and Makayla Daniels 10 as five different Razorbacks scored at least 10 points. Arkansas shot 54 percent (33 of 61) from the floor
Barnum, a 6-2 redshirt freshman, also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Gaulden dished out six assists.
Kirra Bonner and Kalen Green led the Lady Demons with 10 points each.
Senior Kiara Williams, who has been sidelined with a foot injury, saw her first action of the season. She finished with four points, a steal and a game-high three blocked shots in nine minutes of play.
Neighbors said she's not yet at 100 percent, but it was good to get her on the floor.
"That's probably about what we were hopeful of," Neighbors said. "She's had two and a half full practices. We don't want to rush her back."
The Razorbacks next play the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. They host Tennessee-Martin on Dec. 29 before beginning SEC play on Jan. 2. Arkansas plays host to Texas A&M at 8 p.m.
Sports on 12/16/2019
This story was originally published at 1:49 a.m.