Preview – Women’s Basketball Prepped for Homestand, Hosts Alabama

kylie magar January 31, 2024

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (16-6, 4-3 SEC) is ready to host two straight home games, starting with Alabama (16-6, 3-4 SEC) on Thursday night. Arkansas and the Crimson Tide will tipoff at 8 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena on SEC Network.

GAME INFORMATION

Date: Thursday, Feb. 1
Time: 8 p.m.
Opponent: Alabama
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Promotions: Student point game, first 500 fans get a free bag of Stuffed Puffs
Tickets: HERE
Watch: SECN
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
Alabama Game Notes
Live Stats

STORYLINES

Arkansas women’s basketball is coming off its first back-to-back SEC wins this season, defeating Missouri (W, 67-58) on the road on Sunday after taking down Kentucky (W, 88-61) on Thursday
With 16 wins, Arkansas has clinched a regular season winning record for the sixth straight year
The Hogs are coming off its 11th straight win against Missouri, doing so behind Saylor Poffenbarger’s 24 points off eight 3-pointers, the second most triples scored by a Hog in a single game in school history
Arkansas is now set to host Alabama, one of three home-and-away opponents for the Hogs this season. The Hogs defeated the Tide in Tuscaloosa, 77-59 in the two teams’ first meeting on Jan. 14
The Razorbacks will welcome home Tennille Adams, an assistant at Alabama, who played for the Hogs from 1995-99. She was a part of the 1998 Final Four team at Arkansas, who just celebrated their 25th anniversary in Fayetteville in the fall
Arkansas has a 27-16 advantage over Alabama, winners of eight of the last 10 against the Tide
The Hogs are in a three-way tie for fifth in the league with a 4-3 mark
Taliah Scott leads the Hogs in scoring with 22.3 points per game and is the only player in the SEC to average 20.0+ points per game. She was leading the league in scoring and minutes/game (36.3) before her six-game absence, as she has been out with an injury
Poffenbarger is one of the top defensive rebounders in the country and just recently surpassed 500 career rebounds, needing only 57 games to do so. She leads the team and the SEC in defensive rebounds/game (9.8) and is second in rebounds/game (12.1), which are second and third, respectively, in the NCAA, and has pulled down 255 boards, which ties the total she had all season as a redshirt freshman in 2022-23
Additionally, Poffenbarger broke the school record for individual game rebounds with 23 against Florida State. She has had four games with 19+ boards this year, which is the only time an Arkansas player has had that many 19+ rebound games in their career
Samara Spencer leads the team with 79 assists. Her 329 career assists is No. 13 on the career list and her 1,219 points is No. 22 on the all-time scoring list
Maryam Dauda has made a big jump this season, pacing the team with 55 blocks, which is third in the league and her 3.7 blocks per game in SEC contests paces the league. She is No. 7 on the individual season block list at Arkansas
Dauda’s 10 blocks vs. Alabama broke a 35-year single-game record at Arkansas (prior record held by Robyn Irwin in 1987) and is tied for the second most by a player in the NCAA this season. She also logged the first double-double through blocks and rebounds in school history
Makayla Daniels is an elite defender and leads the team with 42 steals. She is the highest scoring point guard in school history with 1,717 points, which is the seventh most in school history, while holding a program’s most starts and games played records with 144. Daniels was selected on the All-SEC Preseason Second Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches
The Hogs lead the league in 3-pointers per game (9.4), which is sixth in the NCAA, and 3-point attempts per game (30.2), a number that is second in the country, as well as least turnovers committed per game (12.8)

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama has an identical overall record to Arkansas at 16-6, while entering Thursday night’s game with a 3-4 league mark
The Tide bounced back from a three-game losing streak, which started with that 77-59 loss to the Hogs, by defeating Kentucky, 91-74
In the SEC Preseason Polls, Alabama was picked to finish eighth and ninth in the coaches and media polls, respectively. The Tide are coming off a 20-11 season with a 9-7 mark in league play to tie for fifth in the SEC. Alabama was the 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament in the Storrs Regional, falling just short of Baylor in the opening round, 78-74
Sarah Ashlee Barker leads the team with 16.6 points per game
Freshman Essence Cody paces the Tide with 6.6 rebounds per game and 42 total blocks
Loyal McQueen has a team’s most 67 assists
Aaliyah Nye paces Alabama with 44 total steals and is one of the best 3-point shooters in the SEC with 71 total triples and a .425 3-point percentage
Head coach Kristy Curry is in her 11th season at the helm and is just two wins away from 500 in her career across 25 seasons as a coach for Power 5 programs
Curry has guided Alabama to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, one NCAA Final Four, two NCAA Elite Eights, four NCAA Sweet 16s and seven WNIT appearances. She is one of 10 coaches in WBB history to have 100+ wins at three different schools

HISTORY AGAINST THE CRIMSON TIDE

Arkansas has the 27-16 edge over Alabama in the all-time series, with Thursday night’s game marking the 44th of the all-time series
The Hogs have the 12-2 advantage in the last 14 games, 8-2 in the last 10, of the series
Arkansas is 13-7 against the Tide in games played in Fayetteville
Head coach Mike Neighbors is 6-2 in his head coaching career against Alabama
Arkansas and Alabama faced off last time on Jan. 14, as the Hogs came back by being down by as many as 11 to defeat the Tide, 77-59. The win marked the 10th straight for the Hogs in Tuscaloosa. Spencer logged her third career double-double with 31 points and 14 rebounds, while Dauda earned the first double-double through rebounds and blocks in school history with 12 rebounds and a school record 10 blocks. Daniels added 16 points and Poffenbarger had nine points and 14 boards in the win

LAST TIME OUT

Arkansas earned its 11th straight win over Missouri, fifth straight at Mizzou Arena, with a 67-58 victory
The Hogs took a one-point lead going into the fourth quarter, in which they outscored the Tigers 18-10 in that final 10 minutes
Poffenbarger led the game by matching a career-high 24 points off a career-high eight 3-pointers, which was the second most triples a Hog has scored in a game in school history. She added nine rebounds and two assists
Daniels recorded 13 points, three rebounds, two steals and one block, while playing all 40 minutes
Spencer registered 13 points off 4-of-8 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line, six rebounds and six assists, while drawing nine fouls
Dauda finished with seven points, four rebounds, two assists and four blocks
When Carly Keats exited the game early, Karley Johnson stepped up off the bench and played the rest of the game for 34.5 minutes, tallying seven points and three boards
Jenna Lawrence had a big second-chance 3-pointer at the buzzer of the third quarter and logged three rebounds, two steals and one block
The Hogs splashed in 12 3-pointers and shot 44.9 percent (22-of-49) from the field

UPCOMING

The Hogs will stay at Bud Walton Arena to host Auburn on Sunday, Feb. 4. Arkansas’ game against the Tigers will tipoff at 5 p.m. on SEC Network and will serve as the Hogs’ Play4Kay game.

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.