FAYETTEVILLE — You don’t have to look back too far to see that seventh-year Arkansas women’s basketball coach Mike Neighbors has experience taking down juggernauts.

On their home court during the 2020-21 season, the Razorbacks upended No. 3 UConn and No. 4 Baylor. 

The victories tripled Arkansas’ all-time wins against top-five teams. Neighbors joined legendary coach Gary Blair as the second coach to lead the Razorbacks to such a win.

Arkansas (7-1) will look to create another memorable upset Sunday at 2 p.m., when it faces No. 2 UCLA in Bud Walton Arena.

“We’ve had some success when highly ranked teams have come into Bud when we get good crowds for them going back to Baylor and UConn,” Neighbors said. “But [UCLA is a] really good team. I think it’s [Coach Cori Close’s] best team.

“If you follow kind of the national landscape, most people have UCLA as a Final Four contender or lock, depending on who you look at.”

The Bruins (6-0) defeated then-No. 6 UConn 78-67 last Friday in the Cayman Islands Classic.

“They took it to UConn down there in the Cayman Islands,” Neighbors said. “If South Carolina hadn’t played a great schedule preseason, I think UCLA would be coming in here No. 1. But South Carolina has gone out and earned it, for sure.”

The Bruins are ripe with talent. All five starters are double-digit scorers and each were rated top-25 prospects in their class out of high school by ESPN.

In the class of 2022, Lauren Betts was the No.  1 recruit, Kiki Rice was No. 2, Gabriela Jaquez was No. 19 and Londynn Jones was No. 22. Graduate guard Charisma Osborne, who is the program’s fourth-highest scorer and a projected high 2024 WNBA Draft pick, was rated the No. 22 player in the class of 2019.

A couple offseason decisions led to the barrage of talent on the Bruins’ roster.

Osborne chose to return for a fifth season despite the fact she would have likely been selected in the first round of the 2023 WNBA Draft. Betts, a 6-7 center, transferred from Stanford, where she averaged just 9.6 minutes as a freshman.

Gabriela Jaquez (16.2 points per game), Betts (15.5), Osborne (15.2), Londynn Jones (13.7) and Rice (13.5) form a dynamic starting lineup. Betts leads the nation with a field goal percentage of 78% this season.

“I know that I sound like a broken record because this is about the fifth [press conference] I’ve mentioned this,” Neighbors said. “But we scheduled that game with UCLA as a home-and-home about a year ago when Charisma Osborne was going to be a top-five pick in the WNBA Draft. And at that point in time, [Lauren] Betts played for Stanford.

“Now Osborne comes back — it gives them a fifth-year kid who’s still going to be a top pick in the WNBA [and a] potential All-American — and Betts transfers from Stanford, which is rare. Most kids don’t ever leave Stanford, but she’s at UCLA.”

The Razorbacks aren’t deprived of talent, either. They are headlined by freshman star Taliah Scott, who is seventh in the nation averaging 23.3 points.

Saylor Poffenbarger set the program single-game rebounding record with 23 against Florida State and is in her second year after transferring from UConn. Maryam Dauda, a 6-4 forward from Bentonville, was the No. 13 player in the class of 2021.

Guards Makayla Daniels and Samara Spencer are the SEC’s No. 3 and 9 active scoring leaders, respectively.

Arkansas is fresh off a road victory over No. 15 Florida State in the ACC-SEC Challenge. It came five days after a poor start against Marquette that paved way for a 16-point loss, the team’s first of the season.

Neighbors said there was “a little pissed off-edness” within his team after the loss and that it “embarrassed them a little bit.” He credited the loss for leading to good preparation for the Florida State game.

The Razorbacks responded with a decisive victory over the Seminoles. They now look to keep momentum rolling.

“I think we’ll play with more confidence,” Neighbors said. “I can’t tell you we’ll play better than that. I’m not sure we can play better than that yet. But I have a lot of confidence that we can play that hard again.”

It will be the second meeting between Arkansas and UCLA.

The Razorbacks defeated the Bruins 90-80 in overtime during the first round of the 1990 NCAA Tournament in Fayetteville. Arkansas eventually made the Elite Eight that season under John Sutherland.

Sunday’s game will be televised on SEC Network+.

Team Comparisons

Points for — UCLA 88.0, Arkansas 75.1, 

Points against — UCLA 71.0, Arkansas 75.1, 

Rebound margin — UCLA -1.8, Arkansas 75.1, 

Turnover margin — UCLA +6.8, Arkansas 75.1, 

FG% — UCLA 42.3, Arkansas 75.1, 

3PT FG% — UCLA 37.1, Arkansas 75.1, 

FT% — UCLA 75.9, Arkansas 75.1, 

Probable Starters

UCLA

G Kiki Rice (5-11, So.) —13.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg

G Londynn Jones (5-4, So.) — 13.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg

G Charisma Osborne (5-9, Gr.) — 15.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg

F Gabriela Jaquez (6-0, So.) — 16.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg

C Lauren Betts (6-7, So.) — 15.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg

Arkansas

G Makayla Daniels (5-8, Gr.) — 11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg

G Samara Spencer (5-7, Jr.) — 11.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg

G Taliah Scott (5-9, Fr.) — 23.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg

G Saylor Poffenbarger (6-2, R-So.) — 10.3 ppg, 11.1 rpg

F Maryam Dauda (6-4, R-So.) — 7.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball (7-1) is set for another tough test, as the Hogs host No. 2 UCLA (6-0) on Sunday afternoon. Coming off the team’s first ranked win of the season, the Hogs will now look to match the highest ranked win in program history and best since 2003, as Arkansas and the Bruins tipoff at 2 p.m. on SECN+. The game will serve as a Red Out, as the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free t-shirt and poms.

GAME INFORMATION

Dates: Sunday, Dec. 3
Time: 2 p.m.
Opponent: No. 2 UCLA
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Promotions: Red Out the Bruins (first 1,000 fans get free red t-shirt and poms) and Signature Sunday (autographs with team after game)
Watch: SECN+
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
UCLA Notes
Live Stats

STORYLINES

• Arkansas is coming off a huge ranked win over No. 15 Florida State in the SEC/ACC Challenge, 71-58. That win was big in helping the SEC come back from being down 6-1 in the challenge to tie it up at 7-7
• The Hogs have commenced the season 7-1 for the second consecutive year, which also marks the 19th time Arkansas has began its season with seven wins in their first eight contests
• Arkansas hosts No. 2 UCLA, who is coming into Bud Walton with an unblemished 6-0 mark
• The Hogs are no strangers to knocking off top five opponents at home, defeating No. 4 Baylor (W, 83-78) and No. 3 UConn (W, 90-87) both during the 2020-21 season in Fayetteville
• Arkansas has the opportunity to defeat the No. 2 team in the country for the second time in school history. A win over the Bruins would match the highest ranked win in school history. The Hogs defeated No. 2 LSU on Jan. 19, 2003, in Fayetteville, which stands as the highest ranked victory in program history
• In the Mike Neighbors era at Arkansas, the program has picked up eight big, ranked wins over AP ranked opponents, including now seven in the top 16 with that win over FSU
• Coach Neighbors has picked up two top five wins at Arkansas with the opportunity to increase that to three with a victory over No. 2 UCLA. The win would be the biggest for Neighbors in his head coaching career, with his current biggest win being over No. 3 Stanford (2/9/13) while he was the head coach at Washington during the 2013-14 season
• Arkansas has an eight-game home game winning streak still alive, which stretches from last season when the Hogs took down Texas A&M at Bud Walton, 78-65. A win would extend that streak to nine straight home wins
• Saylor Poffenbarger is coming off having broken the school record for individual game rebounds, pulling down 23 against Florida State. Those 23 boards is the most pulled down by a men’s or women’s player in NCAA DI and DII. She is third in rebounds/game (12.6) and second in defensive boards per game (10.4) in the NCAA
• The Hogs’ leading scorer since the first game of the season has been Taliah Scott. She leads the SEC with 23.3 points per game along with a league’s most free throw makes (46) and free throw attempts (52), with her free throw makes tied for third in the country. Scott’s scoring average is the sixth best in the country, while her point total of 186 is the second best, just trailing Caitlin Clark
• Samara Spencer is fresh off surpassing 1,000 points in her career, doing so in her home state at Florida State, to become the 33rd member of the 1K club at Arkansas, sixth in the Neighbors’ era. She leads the team in assists with 29. Her 279 career assists is now No. 16 on the all-time career list at Arkansas
• Makayla Daniels and Poffenbarger are tied for a team’s most steals with 12 a piece
• Poffenbarger is also tied with Sasha Goforth for a team’s most blocks with 13. Goforth has decided to step away from basketball again with no timetable for return
• The Hogs were picked to finish sixth and seventh in the SEC Preseason Media and Coaches Poll, respectively
• Daniels was selected on the All-SEC Preseason Second Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches. Her 1,552 career points is the No. 10 most points scored by an Arkansas WBB player in school history and she now holds the record for most career starts with 130 

SCOUTING UCLA

• UCLA is not only the team to beat in the Pac-12, but the team to look out for to make the Final Four, being named on several preseason Final Four projections
• The Bruins have big wins over Purdue (W, 92-49), Princeton (77-74) and No.6/7 UConn (W, 78-67)
• Last season, UCLA finished the year 27-10, 11-7 in the Pac-12 to round out in fourth in the league. The Bruins made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed before dropping its game to South Carolina, 59-43
• UCLA was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 in both the media and coaches polls with 10 first-place votes in the media poll and three in the coaches poll. Kiki Rice and Charisma Osborne were named to the Preseason Pac-12 All-Conference Team. Rice is coming off her Pac-12 All-Freshman Team year averaging 11.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game with 111 assists. Osborne is in her fifth season, coming off the 2022-23 season having averaged 15.9 points and 5.9 boards per game with 52 total steals
• Averaging 91.2 points per game, which is ninth in the NCAA, the Bruins have five players who are averaging double digits in scoring, led by Gabriela Jaquez, who has been putting up 16.2 points per game
• Stanford transfer Lauren Betts is a threat in many areas on the floor, leading the team with 8.7 rebounds per game and eight total blocks
• Rice paces the Bruins with 41 total assists and 11 steals
• Cori Close is in her 13th season at the helm of UCLA and has 266 wins as a head coach, all in Westwood, having led her teams to nine postseason appearances with seven of those being in the NCAA Tournament. She has led her UCLA teams to four Sweet 16s and one Elite 8, while getting past the first round each year

HISTORY AGAINST THE BRUINS

• The only meeting between these two teams came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament hosted in Fayetteville when there was a field of 48 teams
• Arkansas won that meeting 90-80 in overtime on March 14, 1990 in Arkansas’ first time hosting an NCAA Tournament game. The Hogs overcame a 10-point deficit late in that game and Director of Operations Amber Shirey logged 22 points in the game to lead the Hogs to the overtime win

LAST TIME OUT

• Arkansas earned a huge ranked road win at No. 15 Florida State in the SEC/ACC Challenge, 71-58
• The Hogs led by as many as 23 points, while outscoring the Seminoles 24-6 in the third quarter
• FSU came into the game averaging 88.0 PPG with a .423 field goal percentage, but the Hogs held FSU to just 58 points and 28.6 percent from the field (even though the Noles shot 57.1 percent from the field in the fourth quarter)
• Breaking a 35-year-old school record, Poffenbarger pulled down 23 rebounds and matched that with 13 points for her second double-double of the season. She also tallied two assists, two steals and three blocks
• Scott has led the Hogs in scoring in all but one game this season, pacing the way with 24 points, four rebounds and two assists
• Spencer became the 33rd member of the 1,000-point club at Arkansas after a 3-pointer in the early part of the fourth quarter. She finished with 24 points, matching a season-high six assists and four boards
• Daniels led the Hogs in +/- with +15, while tallying 10 points and six rebounds
• Maryam Dauda has been huge in the Hogs’ defensive efforts, registering six points, six rebounds and two blocks, while Emrie Ellis logged three blocks, her third career 3+ block game
• The Hogs 13 3-pointers made was a season-high and fourth 10+ 3-pointer game of the young season

UPCOMING

The Hogs’ home game against the Bruins is the first of three straight in Bud Walton for Arkansas, as the Hogs next host Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. Coverage of that game will be broadcast on SECN+.

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.

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