A Tough Place To Play
It seemed appropriate that the final basketball event at John Barnhill Arena was a women’s basketball game and a women’s basketball banquet.
As fate would have it, it was a girls’ basketball game back in 1977 that was the first hoops contest played in the newly-renovated and expanded home court for the Razorback men’s and women’s basketball.
Betsy Broyles’ Fayetteville High team played days before the first men’s or women’s college game in what would become known as one of the most feared home courts in modern collegiate basketball.
The next year, Betsy would become the first high school recruit to accept a scholarship to play women’s basketball at the University.
On Dec. 7, 1993, she and over 30 former letterwinners returned for A Moment in Time, a banquet to honor women’s basketball in Barnhill. It was the evening prior to the women’s opener in Bud Walton Arena against DePaul. During the 17 years between her first and most recent appearances in Barnhill, The Barn was the site of many great moments of women’s basketball history.
Arkansas was undefeated in its first home season (6-0) and in three subsequent years (1981-82, 1982-83 and 1990-91).
The women’s basketball team set its home consecutive win streak at 21 games from 1981 to 1984. That streak was broken with 23 in the early 1990s, and for a brief period of time, Barnhill Arena was the home of the longest active women’s home winning streak.
Since the start of the NCAA era in 1982-83, only eight unranked teams managed wins in Barnhill (out of 118 who tried).
Some 194 women’s varsity collegiate basketball games were played in Barnhill Arena, with the last game a 96-60 win over Oral Roberts on March 1, 1993.
The last varsity basketball game played at Barnhill was a women’s contest as Arkansas won an exhibition game over the Bulgarian team of Levski Total, 83-81, on Nov. 16, 1993.
The Spirit of Barnhill lives on both at Bud Walton Arena, and at Barnhill. “The Barn” received a new tenant in 1994 with the start of varsity volleyball at Arkansas. Thanks in large part to its home court advantage, the inaugural Razorback volleyball team won the SEC Western Division title providing a new banner for the old rafters. Gymnastics enjoyed a similar Barnhill boost in 2006. With the inaugural senior class, Arkansas upset national powerhouse UCLA to advance to the NCAA Championship at the Barnhill-hosted NCAA South Central Regional.
TEAM RECORDS
Points: 115 vs. Oral Roberts (2/19/87)
Rebounds: 74 vs. Mississippi Valley St. (11/24/89)
Field Goals Made: 45 vs. Cottey College (2/2/78); vs. ORU (2/19/87)
Field Goals Attempted: 97 vs. Cottey (2/2/78)
Field Goal Percentage: .680 vs. Ole Miss (34 of 50) (12/15/90)
3-Pt. Goals: 8 vs. Alabama (2/22/92)
3-Pt. Goals Attempted: 21 vs. Alabama (2/22/92)
3-Pt. Goal Pct.: .625 vs. Miss Valley (5 -8) (12/10/88)
Free Throws Made: 29 vs. Grambling (12/17/81)
Free Throws Attempted: 43 vs. Miss. Valley (11/24/89)
Free Throw Pct.: .950 vs. McNeese (21-22) (2/14/81)
Fouls: 31 vs. North Texas (12/4/92)
Assists: 30 vs. Northwestern (3/16/91)
Steals: 26 vs. TCU (1/11/83)
Turnovers: 32 vs. Grambling (12/17/81) vs. Eastern Okla. (1/18/80)
Blocked Shots: 11 vs. SW Missouri (12/19/87)
INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Points: 36, Shannon Jones (vs. Wash. St., 12/31/92)
Rebounds: 22, Shelly Wallace (vs. SMU, 2/13/88)
Field Goals Made: 14, Bettye Fiscus (vs Wichita, 2/20/82); Shelly Wallace (vs. Texas Tech, 2/2/88)
Field Goals Attempted: 26, Debbie Roe (vs. Ark. State, 2/28/78)
3-Pt. Goals: 6, Sha Hopson (vs. Auburn, 1/11/92)
3-Pt. Attempts: 10, Lisa Martin (vs. UH, 3/4/89)
Free Throws: 16, Shelly Wallace (vs. UH, 3/4/89)
Free Throw Att.: 20, Shelly Wallace (vs. UH, 3/4/89)
Free Throw Pct.: 1.000 (11 of 11) Delmonica DeHorney (vs. Northwestern, 3/16/91)
Assists: 14, Amber Nicholas (vs. Ole Miss, 12/15/90)
Steals: 12, Amanda Holley (vs. TCU, 1/11/83)
Blocked Shots: 9, Robyn Irwin (vs. SW Mo., 12/19/88)
