WBB Preview: Arkansas vs. Southeastern Louisiana
FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball (3-0) will look to win its fourth straight game of the 2025-26 season on Thursday night when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana (1-1) at Bud Walton Arena.
Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Matt Zimmerman (analyst) on the call.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana will meet for the second time overall and the second time in Fayetteville on Thursday evening. The teams played each other for the first time in 2000 but didn’t meet again until 2015. The Hogs won both meetings, 97-40 in 2000 and 97-53 in 2015.
LAST TIME OUT
Arkansas improved to 3-0 after a 89-77 overtime win against Central Arkansas. The Hogs trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, and by seven points towards the end of the fourth, but battled back to tie the game with 12 seconds left via a three-pointer from Emily Robinson. Freshman Bonnie Deas picked up her second straight double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
QUICK HITS
Arkansas enters its fourth game of the Kelsi Musick era. Musick will coach her 100th game as a DI head coach on Thursday. Southeastern Louisiana opened the season with a 105-49 over Centenary before falling to LSU, 115-26, on Nov. 6. The Sugar Bears were picked to finish second in the ASUN preseason poll. Freshman Bonnie Deas leads the Hogs with 18.5 points per game, which is tied for seventh nationally among freshmen through two games. Next up: The Razorbacks will travel to Texas Tech on Sunday for their first road game of the season.
ON THE LIONS
The Lady Lions opened the season by splitting the first two games in the opening week under first-year head coach Jeff Dow. In its first win of the season against Centenary, six Lady Lions scored in double figures, led by Taylor Ross’ 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting in 20 minutes of play. Ross leads the Lady Lions in points, averaging 9.5 points. Through two games, Aaliyah Collins averages nine points per matchup.
Having led his teams to six conference championships and seven NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach, Jeff Dow was named the eighth head women’s basketball coach in Southeastern Louisiana University history on March 25, 2025.
Southeastern Louisiana is the reigning Southland Conference regular-season champion, but isn’t returning any letterwinners from the 2024-25 season.
THE DEAS DEBUT
Freshman guard Bonnie Deas made quite the impression following the first week of the college basketball season. Deas averaged 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, the most by a freshman in the country through the first three games. Deas picked up recognition from the SEC, earning freshman of the week honors.
A FEW FIRSTS
Kelsi Musick is Arkansas women’s basketball’s first female head coach since Susie Gardner led the Razorbacks from 2003-2007. Hometown firsts: Danika Galea is the first Maltin player in Razorback history. Aisha Hassan is the first Egyptian player in Razorback history. Ashlynn Chlarson is the first Arizonan in Razorback history.
50 SEASONS
Arkansas women’s basketball will celebrate its 50th season in 2025-26. The program was founded in 1976 and has accumulated 88 wins since its first game against North Arkansas CC on Nov. 19, 1976. The Razorbacks’ first win came on Dec. 1, 1976 against John Brown, 92-87.
THE NEWCOMERS
The Razorbacks added eight newcomers to the 2025-26 roster: 5 transfers and 3 freshmen. Maria Anais Rodriguez joined Arkansas from Oklahoma State, where she saw action in 10 games during her first season, including three Big 12 games against Colorado, UCF and Arizona. On the FIBA side, she helped Spain to a 6-1 mark and the Silver Medal at the FIBA U18 Women’s Eurobasket competition in 2024 and averaged 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists during the event.
Taleyah Jones followed Coach Musick to Arkansas after playing for her during her sophomore and junior seasons. Jones was the Summit League Newcomer of the Year in 2024 and a First Team All-Summit League selection in 2025. Last season, she led ORU’s offense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring average (83.2) with 18.1 points per game.
Wyvette Mayberry signed with Arkansas on April 3, 2025, the first signee of the Musick era. Mayberry started her career at Tulsa before transferring to Kansas after two seasons. At Tulsa, she was named to the AAC All-Freshman team and led the Golden Hurricane in scoring her sophomore season with 14.1 points per game. At Kansas, she started in 31 games her junior season and recorded four 20+ point games. She started in all 32 games during her senior year and averaged 9.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. She injured her knee during her fifth year and came to Arkansas to finish her career.
Ashlynn Chlarson is the only JUCO product on this year’s team and joined Arkansas from Eastern Arizona CC in Thatcher, Arizona. In her two seasons with the Monsters, she averaged 8.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game. Last season, she nearly averaged a double-double, with 10.9 points/game and 9.2 rebounds/game. She earned first team all-conference, second team all-region and NJCAA All-Tournament Team honors in 2025.
Emily Robinson also made the move from Oral Roberts after a successful start to her career. She was named the 2024 Summit League Freshman of the Year after averaging 10.3 points/game, 3.7 rebounds/game and 2.5 assists/game. She was the only freshman in the league to average double figures. She started in all 33 games her sophomore season and averaged 10.0 points/game and led ORU with 3.4 assists/game. She scored 17 points in the Summit League Tournament championship game against No. 24 South Dakota State.
Harmonie Ware, Aisha Hassan and Bonnie Deas were part of the 2025 signing class that Coach Musick managed to keep following her hiring in March.
THE FIBA FOUR
Four Razorbacks represent their countries at this summer’s FIBA events. Bonnie Deas (Australia) led her country to a silver medal in the FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup. Deas averaged 12.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3 assists in 6 games at the World Cup and earned All-Star Five team honors alongside USA’s Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 class, and UCLA’s Sienna Betts. Deas was Australia’s leading scorer in the championship game with 13 points in an 88-76 loss to the United States. Cristina Sanchez Cerqueira represented Spain in the U-20 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket and won gold. Maria Anais Rodriguez also represented Spain at the U-19 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket and earned a bronze medal. Danika Galea played for Malta in the FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup and won a silver medal in the qualifier in Prishtina, Kosovo.
NEW STAFF
Joining Musick for her first season in Fayetteville are new assistant coaches Brad Johnson and Alex Furr. Johnson made the short trip from nearby Farmington, Arkansas, where he was the head coach of the highly successful Farmington High School girls program, the home of Jenna Lawrence. Overall, Johnson finished his high school coaching career with 419 wins, four state titles, eight conference titles and seven state finals appearances. Furr joins the staff from SMU, where she served as an assistant coach and director of player development for two seasons. Furr played at Fresno State from 2010-2014 and ranks in the all-time top 10 in 3-pointers made and career free throw percentage. Other new staff include Director of On-Court Development Greg Gilman and Video Coordinator Carter Mumm. Assistants Lacey Goldwire and Nick Bradford and longtime Director of Operations Amber Shirey remain on staff.
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