Higginbottom, Stotijn Combine for 50 Points in Comeback Win at Texas A&M

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (10-21, 3-13 SEC) closed out its regular season with a 80-71 victory over Texas A&M (10-18, 3-13 SEC) on Sunday afternoon inside Reed Arena.

The Razorbacks overcame a 14-point deficit and led by as many as 20 points thanks to big games from Izzy Higginbottom (27 points) and Phoenix Stotijn (23 points). It was Arkansas’ first win in College Station since 1991, the last time the two teams met as Southwest Conference rivals.

The comeback was Arkansas’ biggest in SEC play since 2019, when the Hogs, down 15 points, defeated Florida.

Both teams got off to a sluggish start and combined to go 0-10 from the field before A&M forward Lauren Ware netted a three pointer. Ware’s three sparked a 15-2 Aggie run and put the Hogs in a 13-point hole, down 20-7, headed into the second quarter.

Freshman guard Phoenix Stotijn opened the second with a three, her first of three in the quarter, and the Arkansas comeback was on. The Razorbacks took advantage of multiple runs, including a 10-0 run before Texas A&M scored laid it in at the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 31. The Hogs outscored the home team 24-11 and shot 60% (9-15) from the field.

Arkansas’ defense came up big in the third quarter and held the Aggies to nine points, while the offense fired off another 24 points to put the Razorbacks up by as many as 20 points.

Texas A&M threatened in the fourth quarter and cut the Hogs’ lead to 7 points but three more three pointers from Stotijn and Kiki Smith kept Arkansas in front. 

The Razorbacks also took advantage at the free throw line and went 25-28. Higginbottom continued her historic season and set the program’s single-game record with 19 free throws. The guard is up to 235 freebies on the year and passed former Razorback Chelsea Dungee for the program’s single-season record.

Stotijn finished with a career high 23 points and led Arkansas from beyond the arc with a career high 5 three pointers. The freshman also contributed four free throws.

Along with Smith, Cristina Sanchez-Cerqueira, Danika Galea and Vera Ojenuwa were key contributors from three point land, combining for four threes.

Game Notes

• Arkansas snapped an 8 game losing streak in College Station that went back to 1991
• Izzy Higginbottom picked up her NCAA-leading 16th game with at least 25 points
• Higginbottom is 17 points away from tying the program’s single-season points record (759 points) set by Chelsea Dungee in 2019
• Higginbottom passed Dungee’s single-season free throws record after netting 19 free throws against Texas A&M. She also set the new program record for most free throws in a game
• The Batesville native is still on pace to set the program’s single-season scoring average record of 23.1 set by Shelly Wallace in 1989. Higginbottom is averaging 23.8 points per game, which leads the SEC and ranks fifth in the NCAA.
• Texas A&M was the only team Arkansas played twice in SEC play this season. Arkansas won the first game, in Fayetteville, 72-51.

Up Next

The Hogs, the No. 13 seed in the SEC Tournament, will play their first round game on Wednesday, March 5 against No. 12 seed Georgia. That game will tip off at 12:30 p.m. CT with Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Steffi Sorensen (analyst) on the SEC Network call. The teams faced each other in February in Athens, where the Bulldogs pulled off a last second 62-61 victory.

For more information on Arkansas women’s basketball, follow @RazorbackWBB on social media.