Hogs Outlast Kansas City, 89-81

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball improved to 3-0 on the season following an 89-91 win over Kansas City (2-1) on Monday night inside Bud Walton Arena.

Freshmen duo Kyiah Prestridge and Whitely Rogers led the Hogs, scoring 18 and 17 points, respectively.

How it Happened

The Razorbacks started Rogers, Prestridge, senior guards Jianna Morris and Emily Robinson and senior forward D’Asia Thomas-Harris.

Rogers scored Arkansas’ first points with a layup 30 seconds into the game. Both teams went back and forth over the first four minutes until a 7-0 Kansas City run gave the visitors a 15-10 lead into the media timeout. Prestridge led the Hogs with 8 of their 10 points at the break and also grabbed three rebounds.

The Roos led for the remainder of the first quarter and outscored the Razorbacks 25-22. Prestridge finished with 13 points on 5-8 shooting from the field, including a three-pointer with 1:28 left in the quarter to enter double figures.

Prestridge started the second quarter how she ended the first, with another three-pointer at the 9:14 mark to tie the game at 25-25. The Hogs never trailed after that three.

Arkansas found its groove and fired off an 18-3 run over the first 4:32 of the quarter and gained a 15-point lead on the Roos. Kansas City managed to cut the lead down to eight with 20 seconds left before half, but fifth-year guard Kateri Poole went 1-2 from the free throw line to give the Razorbacks a 51-42 lead at halftime.

Prestridge led the way with 16 points and Rogers had a pair of threes in the second quarter to get to 8 points.

Arkansas shot 55.6% (20-36) from the field and made 6 of 9 free throws.

Robinson opened the second half with a drive-and-finish to get the Hogs back to a double-digit lead, but Kansas City responded with a 9-0 run over four minutes and cut the lead down to five points with 3:29 to play.

During that stretch, the Razorbacks went 0-10 from the field with four turnovers.

Senior forward Ayianna Johnson stopped the run with a layup but the Roos scored five straight and trailed by two points with two minutes in the quarter. Arkansas managed to regain a 5-point lead with five straight from Thomas-Harris, including a successful and-1 conversion.

The Hogs got outscored in a quarter for the first time this season, 15-19, and led 66-61 at the end of the third.

Arkansas jumped out to a 10-point lead over the first 3:30 of the fourth quarter, with scoring coming from all five players on the floor.

Kansas City did not go away and fought back to a 4-point deficit at the 5:25 mark after Robinson turned the ball over and sophomore forward Daniah Trammell fouled on the other end. Roos guard Elauni Bennett hit both free throws.

Trammell fouled out two minutes later with 9 points.

Arkansas once again got up by eight with 2:37 to play via a layup from Rogers and then a steal from Rogers on Kansas City’s next possession. Thomas-Harris tipped it in after an offensive rebound to give the Hogs four straight points.

The Roos fought back with a layup and free throw until Rogers hit the dagger three-pointer with 1:36 left in the game. Rogers and sophomore guard Grace McCallop each added a pair of free throws in the last 25 seconds and Arkansas escaped with an 89-81 win.

Both teams committed over 25 fouls but shot poorly from the free-throw line. The Hogs missed 12 and Kansas City missed 11.

Up Next

The Hogs will host UA-Pine Bluff on Thursday, Nov. 12 in Bud Walton Arena. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

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