FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas women’s basketball team held off a Missouri rally and extended its winning streak against the Tigers to 12 games with a 75-68 victory Sunday at Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks (18-9, 6-6 SEC) led 67-47 with 7:21 to play but Missouri got within 70-64 with 2:10 remaining.
Arkansas made five free throws over the final stretch and ended a two-game losing streak.
The Razorbacks moved into seventh place in the SEC standings and avoided what would have been a blow to their NCAA Tournament resume. Arkansas entered the game listed as the fifth team out of the tournament in ESPN’s latest “Bracketology” projection.
“Missouri can do that to you,” Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. “I mean, they're spurty…Every mistake you make…if you lean the wrong way, they pop out there and catch and shoot. And they're all such good shooters. They're all such good passers. They make you wrong every time you make a mistake.”
Missouri (11-14, 2-10) lost its seventh consecutive game. The Razorbacks have not lost to the Tigers, their permanent home-and-away SEC opponent, since Feb. 28, 2019.
Arkansas has also faced Missouri in each of the past two SEC Tournaments.
Fifth-year Arkansas guard Makayla Daniels improved to 12-0 against Missouri during her career, which is the most wins by a Razorback athlete — regardless of sport — over the same team without a loss.
The Razorbacks, who have fallen behind 6 times in SEC play by at least 9 points in the opening quarter, trailed Missouri 15-6 with 6:24 left in the first quarter after an Ashton Judd layup.
Judd’s make prompted a timeout from Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors, whose team responded. The Razorbacks ended the quarter outscoring the Tigers by seven points.
WATCH: Mike Neighbors, players recap Missouri win
“It wasn't a lot of screaming and yelling,” Neighbors said of the timeout. “It was just a point of, ‘We've been here before. Unfortunately, we know what this feels like. Let's not wait till the third quarter to turn this on. Let's start right now.’
“There was just a lot of head nodding…We are continuing to be baffled by why that takes us getting down. I'm just going to start telling them in the locker room, write on the board, ‘We're down 6-0 [or] 9-0,’ or whatever.”
A three-point play by Carly Keats brought the Razorbacks within 25-23 entering the second quarter.
Keats played for the first time since the Razorbacks’ 67-58 victory at Missouri on Jan. 28, when she broke her nose because an elbow struck her across the face inadvertently. She provided a spark for Arkansas with a quick flurry of 11 points.
Neighbors commended the 5-8 guard transfer from Jones (Miss.) College, who played with a protective mask on.
“It's not easy to go to the mask, it's not easy to be out and have your timing gone for three or four games and get your legs back under,” Neighbors said of Keats. “But I think that's just the type of kid that her mom has raised, and her family. It's fun to see. It's something I hope a lot of kids can look at and use her for an example.”
Arkansas controlled the next 10 minutes and outscored Missouri 25-11 to take a 48-36 lead into halftime. The Razorbacks shot 19 of 33 (57.6%) from the floor, including 5 of 10 from three-point range, in the first half.
The Razorbacks continued to grow their lead in the third quarter. Sophomore forward Maryam Dauda scored 13 of her team-high 18 points in the third, which Arkansas won 16-8.
“She is the quietest kid, but when she says, ‘Coach, I think I can get open,’ you listen to her,” Neighbors said of Dauda.
Missouri fell behind 67-47 with 7:21 left when Karley Johnson hit a three-pointer, but the Tigers made the deficit 67-57 with a 10-0 run over a 1:32 span. Hayley Frank made two shots beyond the arc and a fadeaway jumper during the sequence.
The Tigers continued to chip into the lead and got within 70-64 with 2:10 left when Frank made two free throws.
“I'm glad we make it interesting,” Neighbors said jokingly “My doctor would probably appreciate it if we would hold onto those leads that we have. But any way you can get [wins] in this league…there's only a little bit of room in that win column, so you better take them.”
Frank led Missouri with 22 points on 7-of-17 (41%) shooting in her return from missing three games to injury. Mama Dembele added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists for the Tigers, who are tied with Georgia for last place in the SEC.
Dauda (18 points), Samara Spencer (14), Daniels (14), Saylor Poffenbarger (13) and Keats (11) each scored in double figures for Arkansas. The Razorbacks out-rebounded Missouri 35-31 and outscored the Tigers 38-26 in the paint.
Arkansas freshman guard Taliah Scott, the team’s leading scorer (22.1 points per game), was absent. According to the Razorback Sports Network pregame radio broadcast, Scott went home to Florida due to a “serious family emergency.”
“It's a serious family matter that we don't take lightly,” Neighbors said. “She’s in our thoughts and it needs to be in everybody's thoughts. We'll just update [her availability] daily.”
The Razorbacks are scheduled to play at Texas A&M on Thursday at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.