Preview – Arkansas Hosts Central Arkansas for Native American Heritage Month Game

kylie magar November 19, 2023

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (4-0) will host Central Arkansas (2-1) for the team’s Native American Heritage Appreciation Month game on Monday, Nov. 20. In honor of NAHM night, the Hogs are expected to wear the N7 jerseys for the first time in school history. Arkansas will tipoff at 7 p.m. against the Sugar Bears in the Hogs’ last November game this year played at Bud Walton Arena. The game will be broadcast on SECN+.

GAME INFORMATION

Date: Monday, Nov. 20
Time: 7 p.m.
Opponent: Central Arkansas
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Watch: SECN+ (Broadcast link HERE)
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Promotions: N7 Game – Native American Heritage Month
Arkansas Game Notes
Central Arkansas Game Notes (will be available HERE when sent)
Live Stats

NAHM CELEBRATION

Ela Mounce will sing National Anthem
Friendship dancing will be the halftime performance
Team will be wearing N7 jerseys and NAHM warm up shirts

STORYLINES

Arkansas is 2-0 in NAHM games, and will expect a great crowd on Monday, including several members of sophomore Carly Keats’ tribe, who is a part of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Arkansas has started the season 4-0 for the second straight year and third time in the last five years
The Hogs took down in-state opponent Arkansas State, 82-67, to win its first road game since Feb. 5, 2023, which also broke a three-game road losing skid
Arkansas’ win over A-State extended the Hogs’ record vs. in-state opponents (since 2019-20 when the ban of playing other in-state schools was lifted) to 14-0
Monday’s game marks the third straight in-state opponent the Hogs will play, as the Hogs host Central Arkansas. The game will also serve as Arkansas’ Native American Heritage Appreciation Month game
The Hogs will seek a 5-0 start for the second straight year, third time in the last five seasons, while elevating its record vs. in-state schools to 15-0 since 2019-20
Arkansas is on a seven-game home winning streak stretching back from Feb. 26 last season (when the Hogs beat Texas A&M, 78-65)
In a year featuring one of the most talented freshmen classes women’s basketball has seen of recent history, Taliah Scott is on that list as one of the best. She leads Arkansas in scoring with 26.5 points per game, tallying 104 points in her first four contests in the college game. Her 29 points vs. ULM was the most scored by a freshman in their Arkansas debut. She is the SEC’s leading scorer and is fifth in the NCAA
Saylor Poffenbarger is one of the best rebounders in the country, pacing the team with 13.8 per game. She pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds, which was one shy of tying the individual game record vs. ULM. Those 21 rebounds is tied for the most by an NCAA player this season, and she leads the league in rebounds (13.8) and defensive boards (11.5). Her defensive boards/game leads the country, and her rebounds/game average is fourth in the country
Samara Spencer has a team’s most assists with 17. She is the leading returning scorer from last year, having averaged 14.4 points per game and paced the team with 154 assists. Her 267 career assists is No. 18 on the all-time career list at Arkansas, one off from tying for 17th
After missing last season, Sasha Goforth has not missed a beat, logging a team’s best 11 blocks, including 3+ in three games. Her 77 blocks is the sixth most among active players in the league. She is tied with Poffenbarger and Makayla Daniels for a team’s most five steals a piece
The Hogs were picked to finish sixth and seventh in the SEC Preseason Media and Coaches Poll, respectively
Fifth-year Daniels was selected on the All-SEC Preseason Second Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches. She is averaging 10.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Her 1,506 career points is the No. 10 most points scored by an Arkansas WBB player in school history

SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS

UCA has started the season 2-1 under new head coach Tony Kemper
The Sugar Bears were predicted to round out at No. 10 in the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the Media Poll
Last season, the Sugar Bears’ season was cut short, having forfeit its final three games due to lack of numbers in the program. As a result, the UCA is coming off an 8-18 record, while finishing 3-12 in ASUN play, which was 13th out of 14 schools in the league last year
Coach Kemper has assembled a squad he likes in Conway, Arkansas. The Sugar Bears are led by Arkansas State transfer Jade Upshaw, who is leading the team with 11.3 points per game and eight total steals
Cheyenne Banks has a squad’s most 8.3 rebounds per game
Randrea Wright leads UCA with seven assists and Bree Stephens paces with four blocks
Kemper took over the helm of the Sugar Bears’ program in March after his predecessor was there for 11 seasons
Coach Kemper made his way back to the Natural State after a six-season stint as the head coach at Marshall, where he led the Thundering Herd to a 79-90 record and coached seven All-Conference USA players and earned berths in first postseason tournaments

HISTORY AGAINST THE SUGAR BEARS

Arkansas is 4-0 over the Sugar Bears in the all-time series
The first meeting between these two teams was on Feb. 24, 1978, in which Arkansas defeated UCA, 65-59
Arkansas and UCA’s next meeting would not take place until 2020, the year this series was picked up. The Hogs have won all three meetings since then
The Hogs are coming off a 72-34 victory over UCA in last year’s meeting. Daniels put up 14 points and four steals, while Maryam Dauda tallied 10 points and five boards. Poffenbarger was +31 in efficiency in 30 minutes played

LAST TIME OUT

Despite a slow start, the Hogs prevailed on the road at Arkansas State to defeat the Red Wolves, 82-67
The win marked Arkansas’ first road win since Feb. 5, 2023 (when Arkansas won at Auburn, 54-51) to snap a three-game road losing streak
Arkansas used a 14-5 run late in the second quarter to get going after a back-and-forth game leading up to that. Emrie Ellis’ two 3-pointers off the bench were big in providing that spark
Scott paced the Hogs for the fourth straight game, logging her first 30-piece with 34 points off 12-for-21 shooting, five rebounds and two assists
Dauda notched double digits with 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks
Poffenbarger was just shy of a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds along with a team’s most four assists
Daniels splashed in two 3-pointers out of halftime to keep Arkansas’ run going, while finishing the game with eight points, four boards and two dimes. She surpassed 1,500 points in her career and now has the second most career starts in school history (126) as well
Spencer stuffed the statsheet with nine points, three boards, three assists and two steals with a team’s best +21 efficiency
Ellis logged six points and was +20 with less than 13 minutes played
Arkansas was a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line, marking the first time since 2019 (vs. Missouri on Feb. 28, 2019) and fourth time in school history the team went a perfect 1.000 from the line with a minimum of 10 attempts. Scott had nine of those free throws

UPCOMING

Arkansas is Florida bound later this week for the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off. The Hogs will play Wisconsin on Friday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. CT and either Marquette or Boston College on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. CT.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Arkansas Women’s Basketball, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @RazorbackWBB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/RazorbackWBB. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, “Kickin’ It In The Neighborhood” for an inside look at the Razorback women’s basketball program and check out The Neighborhood podcasts at CoachNeighbors.com.