Alabama held the Arkansas women’s basketball team to its lowest scoring output of the season and ran away with a 77-48 victory Sunday afternoon at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Razorbacks (11-6, 0-2 SEC) had a 10-game road winning streak in the series dating to 2008 snapped. It was the first win for the Crimson Tide at home against Arkansas since a 75-73 victory on Jan. 15, 2006.
Alabama never trailed and led by as many as 32 in the wire-to-wire win.
“I think we could have been more gritty today,” Arkansas coach Kelsi Musick said. “I felt like that’s one thing that we’ve kind of adjusted with our culture so far this season is just playing harder. Today we had some lapses where we weren’t getting any of the 50-50 balls, and that’s got to change.”
The Crimson Tide (15-1, 1-1) found success on both ends of the court, but it was their defense and effort that set the game’s tone.
Arkansas was held to 18 of 57 (32%) shooting from the field, including 5 of 23 (22%) from 3-point range. Alabama owned the boards and outrebounded the Razorbacks 48-37 with 16 coming on the offensive glass.
“Initially I didn’t think we were being as aggressive, especially in the first half,” Musick said. “We gave up 10 of those [offensive rebounds] in the first half, and I think that’s what allowed us to get into such a deficit. We needed to be more physical, and then we had to go initiate that contact to go get the basketball.”
While the Razorbacks were struggling to generate any offense, Alabama was sizzling from beyond the arc. The Crimson Tide knocked down 13 attempts from 3-point range and shot 41% from downtown.
Seven different Alabama players made at least one 3-pointer, led by Ta’Mia Scott’s 4 of 6 shooting from range. Scott was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points.
Many of the Tide’s looks were uncontested and were created by solid ball movement and screening actions. Alabama was patient with its possessions and recorded 18 assists as a result.
“First of all, we’ve got to tag that roller quicker so our post player can get back in and our guard can get back out to the 3-point line. And we’ve got to make sure that we’re sprinting. I think there [were] a few times when we could have given a little bit more max effort.”
Alabama seized control of the game in first quarter when it scored 10 unanswered over a 2-minute, 1-second stretch to turn a 15-14 advantage into a 25-14 lead entering the second quarter. During the key run, Waiata Jennings knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for the Tide.
Prior to the momentum-shifting sequence, the Razorbacks were 3 of 6 (50%) from 3-point range. But for the game’s remainder Arkansas was ice cold from deep, finishing 5 of 23 (22%) from outside. The 14 points were the most the Razorbacks scored in any quarter.
“I didn’t think we shared it, and we didn’t really attack the rim as hard as we needed to on multiple occasions,” Musick said. “We’ve got to get paint touches. We have to knock down threes. That’s just a given. You can’t have a game where we only make five 3s.”
Alabama stretched its lead to 44-24 by halftime, in large part due to establishing itself down low to help balance its scoring. Going into the break, the Tide had scored 21 points from 3-pointers and 18 points in the paint.
Essence Cody was a force around the basket for Alabama, as the Razorbacks struggled to keep her from getting to her spots at the rim. Cody scored 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting, and was strong defensively altering Arkansas’ looks inside.
“She’s a really great 5,” Musick said. “She’s one of the better post players in the league, by far. We just have to make sure that we are making contact early. I think there were a few times whenever we were not tagging that roller early, we let them get too planted deep in the paint, and we weren’t recovering quick enough. You’ve got to get physical early. I think we got physical late, and that was part of the problem.”
The Razorbacks were cleaner than the previous two games when they averaged 25.5 turnovers in losses to Arkansas State and Vanderbilt. But though they committed only 14 against the Tide, they didn’t make their possessions count due to instances of poor shot selection coupled with many misses on open looks.
“I thought we settled in the first half for some mid-range when we could have got to the rim a little bit more, or we could have pitched it for more wide-open 3s,” Musick said on the Razorback Sports Network postgame radio show. “I thought we settled a little bit…. We did a much better job of turnovers. That was a focus. That’s one positive, is that we didn’t turn it over against the press. We actually took care of the basketball, but we just didn’t shoot it very well when we got the open looks.”
Arkansas got no closer than 17 points in the second half and trailed by as large as 67-35 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. The Razorbacks went deep in their bench for most of the final 20 minutes, as Musick opted to keep most of her usual rotation on the bench.
“I thought [Danika Galea] came in and did a really good job for us,” Musick said. “I think we have three post players that are very different, that we can kind of bring in and mix up. I thought Jada [Bates] came in and did a really good job. I think we’ve got to as a whole get better defensively, but she really did a lot of good things of getting to the rim and getting to the free-throw line.”
Taleyah Jones and Bonnie Deas led the Razorbacks in scoring with 9 points apiece, followed by Harmonie Ware with 8.
Player of the Game: Alabama G Ta’Mia Scott
Scott set the tone for Alabama’s strong shooting game, as she knocked down both 3-pointers she took in the first quarter.
It was a new season high in scoring for the Middle Tennessee State transfer, whose 16 points came on an efficient 6 of 10 (60%) shooting from the field.
Up Next
Arkansas is scheduled to host No. 3 South Carolina (15-1, 2-0) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Gamecocks routed Alabama 83-57 in their SEC opener Thursday, then won at Florida 74-63 on Sunday.
Entering Sunday, South Carolina was No. 2 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings. It will be a Quadrant 1 game for the Razorbacks.
Box Score
