Preview – Arkansas Opens Season Against ULM

kylie magar November 6, 2023

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball is set to open the 2023-24 season against ULM on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena. This season marks the seventh in the Mike Neighbors era with Nov. 7 matching the earliest start to a season in program history. Arkansas is looking to begin the season 1-0 for the 12th straight year, as well as win their season-opening game for the 28th time in the last 30 seasons. The game will be broadcast on SECN+.

GAME INFORMATION

Date: Tuesday, Nov. 7
Time: 7 p.m.
Opponent: ULM
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Watch: SECN+
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
ULM WBB Page
Live Stats

COACH NEIGHBORS ON ULM

“Anybody that is looking at them last year is doing it wrong because it is a different team, it’s a different coach, it’s everything,” said Neighbors. “And, we go back to Alexis Tolefree, [she] played for [Missy Bilderback], and that’s the school [Jones College] Pauline [Love] came from, so there are lot of connections to coach. She obviously was hired for a reason because she is a builder, and she went in [to the portal] and she got two starters from the SEC and one from the ACC on that roster. This roster, when we were putting the scout together, it’s kind of funny because they are all in different uniforms. It’s like ‘why do we have a clip of a girl from Clemson?’ We played against her [Daisha Braford], we’ve played against Jakayla Johnson and Sania Wells. We’ve played all these kids, so it has got our kids full attention.”

“I can promise you this, it’s not the team that we scheduled to open our season with,” added Neighbors. “When we scheduled it a year and a half ago, I think they didn’t win that many games last year. This team may be picked low, but they won’t finish low… They look like Coach Muss’ team. There are a bunch of people who have played at a real high level on a bunch of teams and scored and played…”

“[ULM] is going to be a team when they roll out there, it’s going to have an SEC look,” said Neighbors. “They are going to be new. It will be their first game with [Coach Bilderback], but I can assure you there will be SEC-caliber athletes out there.”

STORYLINES

Arkansas is entering the seventh season in the Mike Neighbors era, which has brought the program five straight postseason appearances and three 20-win campaigns
The Hogs were picked to finish sixth and seventh in the SEC Preseason Media and Coaches Poll, respectively
Fifth-year Makayla Daniels was selected on the All-SEC Preseason Second Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches. She enters her grad year having started in all 122 games she has appeared in and is coming into her final season as the No. 10 scorer on the all-time scoring list with 1,463 points
Arkansas came just short of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, but the team made the most out of their opportunity to play in the postseason, finishing in the Great 8 of the Postseason WNIT, which marked the fourth time in program history the Razorbacks advanced to the fourth round of that tournament
The Hogs finished the season at 24-13, with the 24 wins tying for the most since 2019-20, which also matches a record number of wins in the Neighbors era
Arkansas is one of two schools in the SEC to have finished in the top 50 in NET/RPI rankings in the past four years (South Carolina the other) and one of three in the SEC to qualify for the past five consecutive postseason tournaments (SC and Tennessee, including 2020 when the tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19)
Coach Neighbors returns three starters from the 2022-23 team, seven total returners, while bringing in the No. 17th ranked recruiting class, according to ESPN
Samara Spencer is the leading returning scorer, having averaged 14.4 points per game and pacing the team with 154 assists
Daniels is obviously another big piece returning to the 2023-24 puzzle, coming off her true senior year averaging 13.2 points and leading the team with 56 steals
Saylor Poffenbarger impressed many with her overall production on the court, starting in all 37 games, while leading with 6.9 rebounds per game and 40 blocks. She is coming off breaking the single-season defensive rebound record with 225 last season and was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team and a five-time SEC Freshman of the Week
Taliah Scott comes to Fayetteville as a five-star prospect, No. 11 in the country, logging 36.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.0 steals per game during her senior year of high school. Fellow freshman Jenna Lawrence was a four-star recruit, No. 61 recruit in the country, out of Farmington High School down the road, who won the 2023 4A Girls State Championship. Maryn Archer was a January enrollee and three-star player out of Kansas. JUCO transfer Carly Keats and Spanish National Team member Cristina Sanchez Cerqueira make up one of the most talented recruiting classes Arkansas will see

SCOUTING ULM

ULM was chosen to finish 11th out of 14 teams in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll
The Warhawks are a completely new team under first-year head coach Missy Bilderback, who has brought in eight new players, including transfers from the SEC and ACC
ULM is coming off a 2022-23 season, in which the Warhawks finished with a 7-23 record, 3-15 in the Sun Belt
Clemson transfer Daisha “Nunu” Bradford was a Preseason All-Sun Belt Third Team selection. The graduate guard played two seasons for the Tigers with 53 starts and is coming off last year having averaged 10.1 points per game along with tallying 109 assists and 83 steals
Returner Emma Merriweather is primed for another big season, coming off last year averaging a double-double of 10.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game along with 93 blocks
ULM’s last game of 2022-23 season came at the SBC Championship, falling to Arkansas State, 76-65
Coach Bilderback was previously at Jones College, where she led the Bobcats to seven consecutive NJCAA DI Tournament appearances and a 198-33 overall record

HISTORY AGAINST THE WARHAWKS

Arkansas is 11-0 in the all-time series vs. the Warhawks
The last game of the series took place in December 2020, as Arkansas won convincingly, 103-50
This series’ first game took place in 1980, resulting in a 77-68 win for Arkansas in Fayetteville
Arkansas is 8-0 in Fayetteville and 3-0 in Monroe, Louisiana in the series

LAST TIME OUT

Arkansas finished the 2022-23 season at 24-13 and wrapped up in the Postseason WNIT Great 8 with a 78-64 loss at Kansas
The Hogs got off to a slow start in that game, which allowed the Jayhawks to lead 38-19 at the half. Although Arkansas outscored Kansas, 31-22, in the third quarter, the Hogs couldn’t put it all together for the comeback at Allen Fieldhouse
Four different players scored double digits, led by Daniels, who logged 21 points. Spencer finished with 13 points and Poffenbarger had six rebounds

UPCOMING

The Hogs will stay at home to face Murray State on Friday, Nov. 10 at 10:30 a.m. for Elementary Day. That game will be broadcast on SECN+.

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.