The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team continues to impress Coach Mike Neighbors.
The Razorbacks wiped out an 11-point second-half deficit and rolled to an impressive 88-71 road victory over Missouri on Sunday.
“I’m starting to run out of words. I’m going to have to get a thesaurus,” Neighbors said. “That’s what this group has become. Our locker room is really a cool place to be right now. The halftime locker room was amazing, the way they were talking to each other, the way they were taking coaching and then making the adjustments.
“Big win for so, so many reasons and because of so many factors. Overall, an unbelievable day. But obviously the second half was about as good as we’ve played probably maybe all year, but specifically the last couple weeks.”
Arkansas (16-8, 6-5 SEC) won despite missing starting guard Makayla Daniels for the third straight game, but Samara Spencer and Jersey Wolfenbarger returned after missing Thursday’s game because of covid-19 protocols. The two freshmen played big roles in the win.
Redshirt senior Amber Ramirez poured in a game-high 25 points, which included four three-pointers, all in the final three quarters, and played all 40 minutes for her fourth straight game of 40 or more minutes. Spencer added a season-high 22 points. Sasha Goforth chipped in 18 and Wolfenbarger notched her third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Razorbacks had a scare when Spencer had to be helped off the floor with an apparent ankle injury with two minutes left and Arkansas comfortably in front. Neighbors said it didn’t appear to be serious as she did return to the bench.
The Razorbacks shot a red-hot 59% (20 of 34) in the second half after making 13 of 36 (36%) attempts in the first half and trailing 41-34 at intermission. But they held one of the best shooting teams in the country to an icy 32% (10 of 31) from the floor in the second half.
Neighbors said it was a combination of better offense and defense by his team in the final two quarters.
“Let’s make Hayley Frank catch and shoot threes either further out or more contested, which I think we did,” Neighbors said. “There was a little adjustment, but I just think our kids played better.
“I thought our offense was really good in the second half, started picking them apart and getting matchups that we wanted. I thought Jersey Wolfenbarger was as aggressive offensively as she has been since she’s been in a Razorback uniform.”
Frank led Missouri with 21 points, including a game-high five threes, while Mama Dembele added 17. Aijha Blackwell grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, but the Tigers’ leading scorer was limited to 7 points on 2 of 9 shooting.
Arkansas put together three different second-half scoring spurts to notch its second straight win. The Razorbacks went on an 11-0 run to erase an 11-point deficit.
Ramirez, who poured in a season-high 30 points and hit the game-winner in Thursday’s 68-66 win over Auburn, drained two free throws to tie the game at 49-49 with 4:05 left in the third quarter. The lone senior on the roster then scored the final five points of the third quarter to give the Razorbacks a 62-58 lead entering the fourth.
Ramirez scored with 25 seconds left in the third to give Arkansas a 59-58 lead — its first since 12-11. She then canned a long three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer and the Razorbacks led by four.
The trio of Ramirez, Goforth and Spencer then combined on a 14-0 fourth-quarter run for the knockout punch. Haley Troup’s three-pointer with 8:25 left pulled Missouri (16-9, 5-7) within 69-64. But the Tigers would go scoreless for more than five minutes as Arkansas took control.
Goforth’s three-pointer with 3:33 remaining gave Arkansas its biggest lead at 83-64.
Arkansas begins a stretch of five games in 10 days when it travels to Florida on Thursday. Neighbors said he is hopeful Daniels can return against the Gators.