The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team got a shot in the arm with the return of senior Makayla Daniels and picked up a huge road win Saturday.
The No. 21 Razorbacks knocked off No. 16 Creighton 83-75 at D.J Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
Arkansas (13-0) grabbed a 10-point lead early in the second half thanks to an 8-2 spurt and kept the lead throughout.
Samara Spencer scored a game-high 26 points, including 5 three-pointers, to lead four Razorbacks in double figures. Saylor Poffenbarger contributed a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Erynn Barnum added 15 points and Daniels had 14.
Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said his group played extremely well together from late in the first half throughout the second half.
“I thought from the last two minutes of the second quarter on in the second half we were as connected as we’ve been all year,” Neighbors said. “And just had [an] unbelievable team performance all the way down the lineup.”
Arkansas turned a five-point deficit into a 37-33 halftime lead over the final two-plus minutes of the second quarter. The Razorbacks also held Creighton’s strong three-point shooters to just 2 of 15 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Rylee Langerman hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Razorbacks a 34-33 lead with 1 minute, 1 second left in the first half, and Spencer made another three with 15 seconds left for a 37-33 halftime lead.
Arkansas carried that momentum into the second half. The Razorbacks scored eight of the first 10 points to push the lead to 45-35 on Daniels’ three-pointer early in the third quarter.
The Bluejays got no closer than four in the fourth quarter and Arkansas hit four free throws in the closing seconds to set the final margin.
Morgan Maly led Creighton with 24, but she made 2 of 8 three-point attempts. Lauren Jensen and Emma Ronsiek chipped in 13 points each, while Jayme Horan added 11.
Neighbors said getting Daniels back after she missed the last three games with a foot problem was huge. He also credited Spencer’s performance with having Daniels back in the lineup, too.
“What’s that sign for infinity?” Neighbors joked, referring to the difference of having Daniels back in the lineup. “Just look at the start Sam got off to. Didn’t she make her first 3 threes? Sam can’t pass it to herself. That’s a result of Mak.
“Then not only that, just the way we went about preparation with her being back. I thought everybody did an amazing job with her gone, but you don’t take a kid like that away from the team and not expect there to be some slippage. I thought it was a shot of adrenaline we all needed and obviously her play all the way through the game offensively and defensively was crucial to our success.”
He also said the Razorbacks forced Creighton to play a little faster than it wanted to in the second half.
“If there’s a better Xs and Os coach in America than Jim Flanery, please show them to me,” Neighbors said. “I try to study his stuff. If you let that guy stand over there and dissect you, he’s going to pick you apart and get every shot that they want....I thought we forced them to play just a tad faster than they wanted to.”
The Razorbacks’ 13-0 start matches the best for the program since 2013.
Arkansas travels to the West Coast to play in the San Diego Invitational next week. The Razorbacks are scheduled to play No. 16 Oregon at 3 p.m. Central on Tuesday, then face either No. 3 Ohio State or South Florida on Wednesday.