WBB Preview: Arkansas vs. UMKC
FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball (9-3) will look to hit double-digit wins for the season when it faces Kansas City (2-8) on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at Bud Walton Arena.
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on SECN+ with Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Matt Zimmerman (analyst) on the call.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Arkansas and Kansas City will meet for the seventh time since the first meeting in 1985 in Fayetteville, where Arkansas won 79-47. The two teams last met in 2005 in Fayetteville, where the Hogs won 84- 57. The teams met twice in 2005, once in January and once in December. Two of the six games have taken place in Kansas City: 1989 and 2005. Record against: 6-0 In Fayetteville: 4-0 In Kansas City: 2-0
LAST TIME OUT
Arkansas picked up its first true road win of the season, and Musick’s first road win as the Hogs’ head coach, on Saturday at Missouri State, 73-58. The Hogs never trailed and were led by junior Jenna Lawrence with 17 points off the bench. The Hogs outrebounded Missouri State, 53-36, the second-largest margin in a game this season. Five Razorbacks scored in double-figures: Lawrence (17), Deas (12), Robinson (12), Ashlynn Chlarson (10) and Maria Anais Rodriguez (10). Both of Arkansas’ bigs (Rodriguez and Chlarson) scored in double-figures in the same game for the first time this season. Deas picked up her 10th game in double-figures and finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
ON THE ROOS
Kansas City is riding a five-game losing streak heading into Wednesday night’s game. The Roos opened the season with a 74-64 loss at Kansas. UMKC’s two wins came against non-Division I opponents: William Jewell (DII) and Hesston (NAIA). ¬ The Roos are led by Emani Bennett, who ranks fourth in the Summit League with 17.5 points per game. Kansas City ranks in the top five in offense (71.3), scoring margin (3.0) and turnover margin (4.40).
MUSIC CITY CLASSIC
The Hogs picked up a pair of wins at the Music City Classic in Nasvhille, Tennessee. Arkansas led wire-to-wire against Drake for a 79-71 win, and came back from down 12 points to defeat Southern Illinois, 73-63. Arkansas guard Taleyah Jones was named the event’s MVP after scoring 38 points over the two games (15 & 23). The Music City Classic was the Razorbacks’ only multi-team event this season.
MVP
Taleyah Jones is Arkansas’ leading scorer through nine games with 17.3 points per game, good enough for top 15 in the SEC and top 100 nationally. Jones has collected eight 10-plus point games and three 20-plus point games this season. She’s led the Hogs in scoring in each of the last six games and was named MVP at last week’s Music City Classic. Jones transferred to Arkansas after playing two seasons at Oral Roberts under Musick, where she received First and Second Team All-Summit League honors and was named the league’s newcomer of the year in 2024. Jones missed the Jackson State and Missouri State games due to a concussion.
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 891 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.
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE
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. Deas picked up recognition from the SEC, earning freshman of the week honors. Though her numbers have decreased through 11 games, she is the only freshman and one of three guards (all classes) in the country to average at least 12 points and 9.5 rebounds. Deas’ 9.8 rebounds per game ranks sixth in the SEC and tied for 33rd nationally. Among freshmen, she ranks fourth. Her 117 total rebounds rank fourth in the SEC and 11th nationally This summer, she 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.
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.
UP NEXT
The Hogs will host Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Dec. 20, inside Bud Walton Arena.
For more information on Arkansas women’s basketball, follow @RazorbackWBB on social media.
