Mason Scores Career High Against ORU
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Jailyn Mason led four scorers in double figures, but the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team could not overcome the hot shooting of Oral Roberts, falling to the Golden Eagles, 70-60, on Wednesday afternoon in Bud Walton Arena.
Mason played all 40 minutes and scored a career-high 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Jessica Jackson scored in double figures for the 12th straight game, finishing with 17 points. Alecia Cooley added 11 points, and Devin Cosper, making her first start of the season, had 10 points for the Razorbacks (10-2).
The Golden Eagles (8-5) shot 45.5 percent from the floor and 8-of-14 from 3-point range, the most 3-pointers allowed by Arkansas in a game this season. The Golden Eagles also held a 38-34 edge on the boards and 32-0 advantage in bench scoring.
Oral Roberts outscored Arkansas 27-13 in the second quarter, behind a 15-0 run over the first 5:08 of the period, to take a 43-31 lead into halftime. The Golden Eagles shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the floor, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range in that frame.
Arkansas pulled to within eight after back-to-back jumpers by Jackson early in the third quarter and would also pull within eight after three straight baskets by Mason early in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Razorbacks would get the rest of the way.
Arkansas closes out nonconference play after the holiday break with Houston Baptist on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Arkansas travels to Ole Miss for its SEC opener on New Year’s Day and hosts Mississippi State its SEC home opener on Jan. 5.
Key Run
Oral Roberts opened the second quarter on a 15-0 run over the first 5:08, to take a 31-18 lead over Arkansas. The Golden Eagles were 6-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, while the Razorbacks were 0-of-6 from the field and committed two turnovers during the run. Alecia Cooley snapped the 15-0 run with a layup at the 4:52 mark.
Key Play
Arkansas had battled back to within nine on three different occasions in the final three minutes of the third quarter, before Oral Roberts pushed the lead back to 14 after a quick 5-0 run. The key play was a 3-pointer by Lakota Beatty with 1:12 left, her fifth 3-pointer of the game, and it gave her a career-high 23 points. After a defensive stop on the other end, Montserrat Brotons made it a 62-48 game with a lay-up in the final minute of the quarter.
Notable
• Arkansas is 26-11 in home games under head coach Jimmy Dykes. That mark includes a 7-1 record this season and a 16-5 record in nonconference home games.
• Arkansas is 19-9 all-time against Oral Roberts. The Razorbacks saw their 15-game home win streak against the Golden Eagles and 14-game win streak overall snapped with today’s loss.
• Arkansas used just its second different starting lineup of the season: Jailyn Mason, Devin Cosper, Jessica Jackson, Bailey Zimmerman and Alecia Cooley.
• Devin Cosper made her first start of the season and the 26th start of her career. She started 25 games as a junior this past season.
• Arkansas saw several players get extended minutes, led by Jailyn Mason (40 minutes), Jessica Jackson (37 minutes) and Devin Cosper (37 minutes).
• Jessica Jackson has scored in double figures in all 12 games this season and is averaging a team-best 16.8 points per game.
• Jailyn Mason scored a career-high 19 points, her third game in double figures and the first since Nov. 21 against Stetson.
• Devin Cosper scored in double figures for the third time in four games, finishing with 10 points. She scored nine points in the other game of the four-game stretch.
• Led by Lakota Beatty, who finished with 23 points, Oral Roberts held a 32-0 advantage in bench scoring.
• Arkansas is off to a 10-2 start for the second time under head coach Jimmy Dykes, matching the 2014-15 team that went 10-2 in nonconference play and proceeded to finish 18-14 and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Quotable – From Coach Jimmy Dykes
“For one of the few times all year our defense wasn’t really dialed in like we wanted as a team. It wasn’t bad with the exception of that second quarter for a six-to-seven-minute stretch. We couldn’t stop them. You look at the scoring line, and we tied or won every quarter except that one, but that was a big deficit. That 27-13 in the second quarter was ultimately the difference in the ball game.”
Up Next
Arkansas concludes its three-game home stand to close out nonconference play with Houston Baptist on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Arkansas play at Ole Miss on New Year’s Day to open SEC play, before returning home for back-to-back home games against Mississippi State on Jan. 5 and LSU on Jan. 8.
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