High-octane offense and great three-point shooting have been hallmarks of Mike Neighbors’ teams throughout his coaching career, but the University of Arkansas did it more with defense Thursday afternoon in the SEC Women’s Tournament
The Razorbacks shot 27.3% from the floor, but they bottled up Missouri, one the best shooting teams in the country, to claim a 61-52 overtime victory at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Arkansas (18-12) trailed briefly in overtime but took control with a 9-0 run and hit 8 of 10 free throws, advancing to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 South Carolina at noon Friday.
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Sasha Goforth’s three-pointer from the corner snapped a 50-50 tie with 3 minutes, 24 seconds left in overtime to give the Razorbacks the lead for good.
Neighbors lauded his team’s defense as the difference, especially as the Razorbacks had their own shooting struggles. The Razorbacks held Missouri, which shoots just under 46%, to 20 of 67 (29.9%).
“I think this is the first press conference I’ve ever talked about our defense winning the game, but I think it happened,” Neighbors said. “Because the shots weren’t falling, we had to do it on that end. If we hadn’t been guarding on the other end, we’d have been down 15 or 20 instead of five or six.
“If you would have told me that we were going to hold them to 29.9%, I would not have predicted an overtime. I would have thought that would be enough to win the game. It wasn’t tonight.”
Missouri Coach Robin Pingeton said Arkansas was more aggressive, getting to the foul line more than the Tigers and outrebounding them. The Razorbacks made 17 of 25 free throws, while Missouri made 7 of 8.
“Couple things we knew going into this game, we had to outrebound them,” said Pingeton, whose team led 23-17 at halftime. “We didn’t get that done. We had to have 10 or less turnovers. We didn’t get that done.
“We wanted to win with our chest around the rim. We didn’t want to put them at the free-throw line. They shot 25 free throws and we weren’t nearly as aggressive. We shot eight. It’s not like we were just settling for threes."
It was the third straight win this season for Arkansas against Missouri. The Razorbacks won both regular-season games by double digits and scored more than 80 points each time.
This one was about defense. Goforth came up with the big overtime basket, but her defensive effort against Hayley Frank, Missouri’s leading scorer, was key.
Frank, who averages more than 15 points per game, was limited to 5 points on 2-of-8 shooting by the 6-1 Goforth. The sophomore from Fayetteville was one of four Razorbacks in double figures with 11 points but also had a game-high five blocked shots.
Goforth, who along with teammate Amber Ramirez played all 45 minutes, said she learned from past mistakes against Frank, an All-SEC second-team selection.
“I just tried to be in her way,” Goforth said. “The coaches have talked a lot about, in preparation for this game, being knee to knee with her. I think I’ve made the mistake in the past thinking I was there and close enough but I wasn’t. So I made sure today to not make that same mistake.”
Ramirez, the Razorbacks’ lone senior and All-SEC second-team selection, finished with a team-high 17 points — 15 coming after halftime. Ramirez and Goforth hit 3 three-pointers each. Junior Makayla Daniels also registered the first double-double of her career with 13 points and a team-high 14 rebounds along with a game-high 5 assists. Samara Spencer, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Year on Monday, chipped in 11 points.
Haley Troup led all scorers with 21 for Missouri (18-12), including 3 three-pointers. LaDazhia Williams also had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Frank also grabbed 13 rebounds for the Tigers.
Arkansas trailed much of the second half by as many as six. But Ramirez scored the final eight points of the third quarter, including back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 32-32 after three.
The Razorbacks scored five straight on a reverse layup by Spencer and a three-pointer by Ramirez to lead 46-41 with 2:53 left in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers fought back, tying the game 48-48 on Troup’s basket with 20 seconds left.
Ramirez misfired in the final seconds, sending the game into overtime.