Preview – Women’s Basketball Set for Fort Myers Tip-Off

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Arkansas women’s basketball team is spending Thanksgiving weekend in Southwest Florida for the Elevance Health Fort Myers Tipoff. Arkansas will open tournament play against Wisconsin on Friday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. CT and will play either Marquette or Boston College on Saturday, Nov. 25 in the tournament’s Shell Division at Suncoast Credit Union Arena at Florida Southwestern College. The Hogs’ game against Wisconsin will be streamed on FSWBucs.com.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Dates: Friday, Nov. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 25
Time: 1 p.m. CT (Friday), 4/6:30 p.m. CT (Saturday, championship game at 4 p.m./third-place game at 6:30 p.m.)
Opponents: Wisconsin (Friday), Marquette/Boston College (Saturday)
Location: Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida Southwestern College (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Watch: FSWBucs.com, Women’s Sports Network (Saturday’s championship game)
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
Opponent Game Notes (will be uploaded here)
Live Stats

STORYLINES

• Arkansas is 5-0 for the second consecutive year and third time in the last five years. Mike Neighbors has had three of his Arkansas teams start a season 5-0, which matches a school record with Gary Blair and Tom Collen
• The Hogs played three straight in-state opponents and got the job done in each of those games, including an 81-67 win over Central Arkansas on Monday’s Native American Heritage Month Appreciation game for the Hogs
• Arkansas is one of five schools left in the SEC to start the year undefeated
• With the win over UCA, Arkansas extended its record vs. in-state opponents (since 2019-20 when the ban of playing other in-state schools was lifted) to 15-0
• The Hogs are set to play in the Elevance Health Fort Myers Tip-Off against a lineup of Power 6 opponents. Arkansas will play Wisconsin on Friday and Marquette or Boston College on Saturday in the Shell Division
• The Hogs will look to keep its undefeated record intact and come back home with two wins to start 7-0 for the second straight year
• Arkansas won the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands last season and will seek back-to-back years with tournament titles during Thanksgiving
• Leading the team in scoring in each of the first five games (including ties), Taliah Scott has been a force for the Hogs, pacing the team and SEC in scoring with 24.6 points per game, which is second in NCAA w/ 5+ games played. She is coming off being named SEC Freshman of the Week
• Saylor Poffenbarger is one of the best rebounders in the country, pacing the team with 12.2 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 defensive rebounds (10.2) and is second in rebounds (12.2). Her defensive boards/game is third and rebounds/game is 12th in the country
• Samara Spencer has a team’s most assists with 18. She is the leading returning scorer from last year, having averaged 14.4 points per game and paced the team with 154 assists. Her 268 career assists is tied for No. 17 on the all-time career list at Arkansas and is at 968 points, needing just 32 more to be the No. 33rd member of the 1,000-point club at Arkansas
• After missing last season, Sasha Goforth has not missed a beat, logging a team’s best 12 blocks, including 3+ in three games. Her 78 blocks is the sixth most among active players in the league
• Makayla Daniels and Poffenbarger are tied for a team’s most steals with seven 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 4.0 rebounds per game. Her 1,517 career points is the No. 10 most points scored by an Arkansas WBB player in school history
• Daniels is one start away from tying the all-time record for career starts with 128 and two off from breaking the record with 129 (will break it if she starts in both games of the tournament). She has started in every game she has appeared in during her collegiate career

SCOUTING TOURNAMENT FIELD
WISCONSIN

• Wisconsin is 3-1 to start the season, most recently falling to a tough Kansas State team, 75-57 on the road
• The Badgers went 11-20 last season, 6-12 in the Big Ten, which was 10th in the league
• Wisconsin finished the season at the Big Ten Tournament with a 57-55 loss to Purdue in the first round
• Serah Williams leads the Badgers in scoring with 14.5 points per game and rebounds with 8.0 per game along with a team-high 10 blocks in four games. She was a Big Ten All-Freshman Team choice
• Ronnie Porter paces the team with 18 assists and 17 steals
• Marisa Moseley is in her third season at the helm in Madison, coming from Boston University, where she was the 2019 Patriot Coach of the Year

MARQUETTE

• Marquette has begun the year 4-0, including with a 71-67 win over No. 23 Illinois
• The team was picked to finish third in the BIG EAST with 79 points. Marquette finished 21-11, 13-7 in the league last season, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to South Florida, 67-65
• The Golden Eagles are led by Jordan King, who is the only player in the country with more consecutive starts in games she has been available in than Daniels with 128. King averages 17.0 points per game and was a Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team selection after averaging 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game last year
• Frannie Hottinger leads on the boards with 8.3 rebounds per game, while Rose Nkumu has a team’s most 21 assists and eight steals
• Liz Karlen was a Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention choice after averaging 11.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last year
• Megan Duffy is in her fifth season at Marquette, closing in on the 100 wins mark in Milwaukee. During her tenure, the Golden Eagles have made three postseason appearances, and a pair of runner-up finishes in the regular season and conference tournament

BOSTON COLLEGE

• Boston College is coming into the Fort Myers Tip-Off with a 3-2 mark, coming off a 71-56 road win at Providence
• The Eagles were picked to finish 13th in the ACC after a 16-17 season, 5-13 mark in the ACC to finish in 10th in the league. BC beat 14th-seed Georgia Tech, 62-57 in the first round before losing to sixth-seed Miami, 84-69
• Teya Sidberry paces BC with 14.6 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game
• Kaylah Ivey has a team’s most 21 assists and Dontavia Waggoner has the most steals with 18
• Joanna Bernabei-McNamee is in her sixth season in Boston, where she has had two 20-win seasons

HISTORY AGAINST TOURNAMENT FIELD

WISCONSIN

• Arkansas is 3-0 vs. Wisconsin in the all-time series
• The last time these two teams played was in back-to-back years in 2018 (W, 69-68 in Nashville) and 2019 (W, 68-64 in Nassau, Bahamas)
• Daniels played in that win in 2019, registering four points and two steals

MARQUETTE

• Arkansas has the 1-0 edge in the series with the only other meeting being on Dec. 30, 2007, in Hanover, New Hampshire. The Hogs won, 71-69

BOSTON COLLEGE

• Arkansas is 3-0 in the all-time series against BC
• These two teams have not faced off since 2001, when Arkansas defeated BC, 76-60, on the road in Boston

LAST TIME OUT

• Arkansas picked up its third straight in-state win this season with an 81-67 victory over UCA, marking the fourth time the Hogs have reached the 80-point mark in scoring this season
• All five starters reached double digits in scoring
• Scott and Poffenbarger led the team in scoring with 17 points apiece. Poffenbarger did so behind 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 3-of-4 from 3-point with six rebounds and two steals, while Scott had four rebounds and three assists as well
• Spencer enjoyed a great game with 16 points off 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the line
• Maryam Dauda added 14 points off 3-of-6 from 3-point with a team-leading eight rebounds and three steals. Daniels reached 11 points with four assists and two steals
• Arkansas had 20 points off turnovers and 14 off second-chance opportunities

UPCOMING

Arkansas will go back to the Sunshine State to face Florida State in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Friday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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.