FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team had a key six-point possession and its opponent was called for having six players on the court, and both sequences factored in to the Razorbacks avoiding a second consecutive loss.
Junior guard Makayla Daniels poured in a career- and game-high 32 points and fueled a big second-quarter run that helped the Razorbacks roll to an 84-67 win over California on Sunday at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas (7-2) got off to a slow start against the Bears and trailed by as many as nine points midway through the second quarter. But the Razorbacks put together a 16-1 run to turn an eight-point deficit into a 36-29 advantage off a Daniels’ three-pointer with less than two minutes left in the first half.
Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said he was pleased with how his team withstood some early energy by Cal and found its rhythm over the final 2 1/2 quarters.
“We knew they were going to be confident,” Neighbors said. “And we saw that in the first quarter. We made a few little adjustments. We knew it was going to be really, really hard to start and I thought we weathered it. Then we got settled.
“And then from that point on, maybe the best we’ve played all year.”
The Razorbacks led 40-33 at halftime and applied the knockout punch early in the third quarter with an 11-4 flurry. It was Daniels again that capped the run with a corner three-pointer for a 54-42 Arkansas lead with 5:18 left in the third quarter.
California (6-2) never got the deficit to single digits the rest of the way.
The game had some oddities as Cal was whistled for three technical fouls — one for having six players on the court in the first quarter. Another technical was called in the second quarter after Cal was whistled for a personal foul, which resulted in a six-point possession in the midst of the Razorbacks’ big 16-1 run.
Emrie Ellis made two free throws on the foul and Amber Ramirez added two more for the technical. Sasha Goforth scored off the dribble to slice a 28-21 deficit to just one point in a matter of 23 seconds.
Daniels and Goforth were a nice 1-2 punch offensively. Daniels made 11 of 15 shots from the floor, including 4 of 6 from three-point range and scored 30 of her 32 points after the first quarter. Goforth, a 6-1 sophomore transfer from Oregon State, added 19 points to go with 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.
Samara Spencer and Erynn Barnum added nine points each, while the 5-9 Ramirez finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Freshman guard Jayda Curry finished with 18 points to lead the Bears, whose only other loss before Sunday was to Ole Miss. Jazlen Green added 16, including 13 in the first half, and Cailyn Crocker 12.
Neighbors talked about how Central Florida was the aggressor in Thursday’s 52-51 road loss, but that changed Sunday. In their loss, the Razorbacks made 9 of 31 from three-point range, were outrebounded 39-31 and shot only 8 free throws.
Arkansas enjoyed a big advantage from the foul line against Cal, making 29 of 32, and it out-rebounded the Bears 36-29. The Razorbacks also made 7 of 17 three-pointers – 6 of 10 in one stretch to take control.
“Lesson learned,” Neighbors said. “They talked about that. We knew the difference. We were the aggressor, and sometimes that means you’re going to get a hooking call or an over-the-back call. I’m OK with those.
“The other part was we had eight turnovers in the first quarter and that’s not aggressive. That was passive. I let Coach Todd (Schaefer) get on them as hard as I have all year, and I think we responded really well. We’re getting there.”
Arkansas will continue a three-game homestand by hosting Jackson State on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.