Arkansas Travels To Missouri For Rematch
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team travels to Missouri for the back half of a two-game road trip and the return trip of two meetings with the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. in Mizzou Arena.
Arkansas (13-11, 2-9) is paced by senior Jessica Jackson. She leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.7 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures in 18 of 24 games this season, including five 20-point games and one 30-point game.
Missouri (16-9, 6-5 SEC) is in a tie with LSU for sixth place in the SEC standings. The Tigers are 12-1 in home games, including 4-1 in SEC home games. They are coming off back-to-back road losses to two ranked teams in No. 4 Mississippi State and No. 24 Tennessee.
Alecia Cooley led Arkansas with 10 points and eight rebounds in the first meeting with Missouri in Fayetteville on Jan. 23.
The Opponent
Arkansas faces Missouri twice in the regular season for the fifth straight season, having done so every year since Missouri joined the SEC for the 2012-13 season. Arkansas is 11-7 all-time against Missouri, including 6-3 in SEC games.
Missouri holds a 5-4 advantage in games played in Columbia and is seeking its first season sweep in the series.
The Tigers have played three straight games against ranked opponents entering Sunday’s game, defeating No. 25 Kentucky and falling to No. 5 Mississippi State and No. 24 Tennessee on the road.
Missouri ranks second in the SEC in 3-point field goals made (6.4 per game) and ranks sixth in the SEC in 3-point field-goal percentage (32.8 percent). Sophie Cunningham leads three Tigers in double figures, averaging 16.3 points per game. Cierra Porter averages 14.6 points per game and Sierra Michaelis averages 12.6 points per game.
Notable
• Jessica Jackson leads the team and ranks 14th in the SEC in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game.
• Arkansas had 16 steals against Florida. That was a season high and one shy of tying the school record for steals in an SEC game. The 25 forced turnovers against Florida were the most in an SEC game this season and the fifth game with 20 or more forced turnovers this season.
• Arkansas ranks fourth in the SEC in scoring defense (58.8 points per game), fifth in the SEC in field-goal percentage defense (37.9 percent) and sixth in the SEC in three-point field-goal percentage defense (29.7 percent).
• Arkansas has shot 45 percent or better in eight games this season. Arkansas shot 45 percent or better twice all of last season (30 games) and six times all of 2014-15 (32 games). Arkansas is now 16-0 when shooting 45 percent or better under head coach Jimmy Dykes.
• Arkansas has held opponents under 30 percent shooting in six games this season: Sam Houston State (26.9), Louisiana-Monroe (22.1), Tulsa (29.7), Northwestern State (25.0), Houston Baptist (24.1) and LSU (28.8).
• Arkansas has had seven different players score in double figures during the first half of games this season: Jessica Jackson (six times), Alecia Cooley (two times) Malica Monk (two times), Devin Cosper, Jailyn Mason, Keiryn Swenson and Aaliyah Wilson.
Looking Ahead
Arkansas returns home for its second-to-last home game against Kentucky on Feb. 16, before returning to the road to face No. 24 Tennessee on Feb. 19 and Vanderbilt on Feb. 23. Arkansas hosts Auburns on Feb. 26 to close out the 2016-17 regular season.
For tickets call the Razorback Ticket Center at 800-982-HOGS (4647) or 479-575-5151. For more information on Arkansas women’s basketball, follow @RazorbackWBB on Twitter.
