FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas women’s basketball Coach Mike Neighbors believes his team might be even faster than it was a year ago, and that’s saying something in his system that stresses a lightning-quick pace.
The Razorbacks return four starters from a team that was ranked among the top five in the country in scoring offense, averaging more than 80 points per game a year ago. They finished 24-8 and were likely headed for their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2015 before the coronavirus pandemic ended the season prematurely.
Neighbors, who begins his fourth season at Arkansas, said that veteran presence is a big reason why his offense might be even better this year.
“I think we’re able to move at a faster pace because we do have those returners that have been great teachers,” Neighbors said Wednesday on a Zoom call.
Three seniors — Chelsea Dungee, Amber Ramirez and Taylah Thomas — and sophomore Makayla Daniels started every game a year ago. Ramirez set a school record with 106 three-pointers made, which ranked second in the NCAA, while Dungee earned All-SEC honors for the second consecutive season after averaging a team-high 16.9 ppg.
Dungee said she’s done a lot of work in the offseason to improve her conditioning. She said she’s lost 20 pounds, and it’s noticeable on the court.
She’s looking to get back to the form she showed in her sophomore season when the 5-11 guard led the Razorbacks to the finals of the SEC Tournament.
“I’ve noticed a big difference: That first step, the ability to get to the basket, to make quicker moves and exploding out of them,” Dungee said. “Going in that sophomore year transition and losing that weight, to junior year and kinda gaining it back, to losing it again my senior year, I definitely know the difference in how my game is.”
The Razorbacks lost first-team All-SEC performer Alexis Tolefree to graduation, but the roster was bolstered by graduate transfer Destiny Slocum and the return of senior Jailyn Mason, who redshirted last year because of a foot injury.
Slocum, a 5-7 senior guard, was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection at Oregon State, and she led her team to the Sweet 16 in 2019. Mason started 97 of 98 games in her first three seasons for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks’ pace of play already has gotten Slocum’s attention.
“I mean, nobody wants to play as fast as we do,” Slocum said. “I hate guarding us when we scrimmage each other.”
The variety of offensive weapons makes the Razorbacks tough to guard, Neighbors said.
“I don’t think you can focus on any one particular player or action,” he said. “To see the level of understanding in Chelsea, in our upperclassmen, it’s OK if the ball doesn’t find me this quarter or this half or this game.
“Now over the course of 25 games, we can’t control how the defense tries to guard us. Make the right play and it’s gonna come back. There’s just so much confidence in each other.”
The Razorbacks’ offensive firepower give them a chance against almost anybody in the country, Neighbors said.
“I know there’s gonna be nights when we don’t score well, but to me it gives us a chance to beat anyone we could potentially play,” Neighbors said. “Even if a Baylor, South Carolina, UConn — anybody’s that’s gonna be in the top five — if we catch them on their ‘B’ night, then we’ve got a puncher’s chance.
“It’s why we choose to play that way. I don’t think we could beat those guys with a walk-it-up, pound-it-inside style. This is the way we have to do it. I believe we’re 10 to 15 points better offensively than we were last year per game.”
Neighbors said the team’s interior game also should improve with 6-3 sophomore Destinee Oberg and 6-2 freshman Destinee McGhee. Surrounding them with several great outside shooters will force opponents to make choices, Neighbors said.
“We can throw it inside, and Destinee McGhee and Destinee Oberg on the block are a viable option now,” Neighbors said. “If you put four shooters around Destinee McGhee or Destinee Oberg, then it’s layup city or they get to the foul line, and they both shoot incredible from the foul line.”
Freshman Elauna Eaton, a five-star recruit from Jonesboro, is currently sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Neighbors said he would know more about her status in a week or two.