Arkansas’ SEC path gets no easier with trip to face No. 5 Texas on Sunday afternoon

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Out of the frying pan and into the fire might be the way to describe Arkansas’ first two SEC women’s basketball games of the season.

Fresh off a 98-64 home loss to unbeaten and No. 6 LSU, the Razorbacks (7-9, 0-1) must now trek to Austin to face No. 5 Texas (14-1, 1-0) Sunday at 2 p.m. then to Auburn (9-5, 0-1) on Thursday before hosting No. 15 Tennessee (13-0, 1-0) on Sunday, Jan. 12.

“This team, these kids love playing against these great teams,” Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors said. “They were excite to play tonight and that’s why these kids came here.

“But it makes it tough. Now we are going to go to Texas and then we go to Auburn. After this and Texas, that makes that game extra hard. That’s what I try to tell people about basketball. We don’t have a Tuesday night where it is a non-conference game. These just stack up on each other.

“We will do what we can do to help them be ready. You can’t get down and let one team hurt you when you play the next one.”

The 16-0 mark is LSU’s second-best start ever behind the 2023 national champion Tigers’ 22-0 beginning under head coach Kim Mulkey.

“We played well tonight,” Mulkey said. “Everybody that played in the game did something very good, and we were able to play a lot of people. I think I started clearing the bench in the third quarter, and a lot of those players that were in there got very fatigued and winded, because they haven’t seen that much playing time in a while.” 

Texas, led by former Arkansas assistant coach Vic Schaefer, comes into Sunday’s contest having downed host Oklahoma 80-73 on Thursday night in both teams’ first-ever SEC contest.

This will be the first game between the two former Southwest Conference rivals since a game in Austin since 1991.

The Longhorns forced 27 turnovers from the Sooners and scored 28 points off those miscues.

“Boy, they were tough tonight,” Schaefer said of his team. “They just showed so much perseverance and toughness. We talked about going on the road and you’ve got to choose courage over comfort.”

Schaefer was thrilled with the road win in a league that has four teams in the top 10 of the Associated Press rankings and 8 in the top 25.

“I know how hard it was for us to win tonight,” Schaefer said. “On the road in the SEC, that’s a win and a half, y’all. You win on the road in this league against a top-10 team, that’s a win and a half. I don’t know how many teams in our league are going to come in here and beat them.”

Arkansas was overwhelmed by LSU from the start, falling down 18-4 before rallying to within 32-22 in the second quarter.

Izzy Higginbottom led the Razorbacks with 27 points while Carly Keats added 15 of her 18 in the second half.

The Tigers would go on to lead by as much as 49 before a spirited Razorback rally in fourth showed some fight.

“The fourth quarter was good,” Neighbors said. “I challenged them repeatedly across the game, but really in the fourth quarter when I put the starters back in. I just thought we would judge how we played in the fourth quarter. I thought we played really hard, fast and I kind of let them go a little bit. Kept fighting.

“They (the Tigers) didn’t quit. They started pressing us in the fourth quarter and were trying to get to 100. So it wasn’t like we got their second effort. They were still trying to won by a lot so I thought we did in the fourth quarter.

“That us what I will try to draw from. We got a lot to fix in the middle. There was some frustration in the middle just because when we’re good, we’re really good.

“And it’s usually a mental breakdown or something that we’re in control of that keeps us from being good long enough. And some of those things are starting to repeat over and over.” 

The tough start is something that Neighbors knows his team just has to deal with in the SEC.

“We know we’re going to be an underdog every game we go out and play,” Neighbors said. “I don’t think every one of the teams in our league is Final Four good — maybe they are, I don’t know yet — but watching LSU, they’re Final Four good.

“I don’t know where that puts us, where we stack up after one game.

Mulkey was thoroughoughly impressed with Higginbottom.

“She’s a fantastic player,” Mulkey said. “I thought we did a good job on her when the game started with our starters. I thought we got fatigued with our bench, and she started getting some points.  

“It wasn’t like we focused on the others. We really did focus on her. We wanted to take away layups from her, and I don’t think she got a whole heck of a lot of layups. She got a lot of mid-range jumpers. Just an outstanding player.” 

The game also feature the return of former Fort Smith Northside star and Razorback Jersey Wolfenbarger, a 6-5 player now playing inside that had 8 points and 5 rebounds

“She did exactly what they needed her to do, hang out around the basket and get passes and make layups,” Neighbors said. “… I told everybody here we would not be able to get a chance to see Jersey at her best. She’s going to keep getting better and better and better. She’s matured. She’s accepted a role of being a post player.” 

Before the game, there was a moment of silence for the victims killed in a terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

“I thought it was very classy of Arkansas to do that,” Mulkey said. “I can’t quit thinking about it, to be honest. I can’t quit thinking about it. It’s so close to home, it just hits you right smack in the face and you get emotional, because I just cannot imagine those families right now and what they’re having to deal with. 

“You just pray. That’s all you can do, is just pray. Pray that somehow, some way, they can deal with it and continue on with their lives.” 

Photo by John D. James