FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (12-3) used a strong second half to defeat Incarnate Word (7-4), 67-48 on New Year’s Eve. Arkansas outscored UIW 40-28 in the second half, including a 21-point fourth quarter. Taliah Scott led the game with 24 points, while Maryam Dauda scored 11 of her 13 points in the third quarter. Saylor Poffenbarger pulled down 19 rebounds in the win to elevate the Hogs’ record to 12-3 and extend Arkansas’ winning streak to four games going into SEC play.
The Hogs won the tip and Samara Spencer got Arkansas on the board first by making one of two free throws, but that was all the team could get, as the Hogs started out the game shooting 0-for-4 from the field. UIW jumped out to a 7-1 lead, but Taliah Scott helped the Hogs get its first field goal nearly four minutes into the game with a layup, which started a 7-0 run. Arkansas retook the lead with a Spencer 3-pointer. The Hogs led 8-7 with 4:08 left in the first quarter. Out of the media timeout, UIW nailed down a triple, but Makayla Daniels had an answer with a triple of her own. Scott then found a transition 3-pointer and the Hogs went up, 14-10 after one quarter.
Scott nailed a 3-pointer in the Hogs’ first possession of the second quarter. UIW responded with a layup, and then Arkansas went on a 7-0 run, as the Cardinals were held in a scoring drought for nearly four minutes . In that run, Saylor Poffenbarger made a driving layup, Makayla Daniels knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game and Spencer took it to the hoop for a layup. At the media timeout taken at the 4:03 mark, Arkansas led, 24-14. The Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to seven. Arkansas could not get any field goals for the remaining 4 1/2 minutes of the half, leading 27-20.
UIW outscored the Hogs 6-2 in the opening three minutes of the third quarter, as Arkansas’ lead was cut, 29-26. Scott then hammered down a triple, her third of the day, but UIW had an answer with a jumper. At the media timeout taken at the 4:34 mark, Arkansas led, 34-28. The Hogs went up by 10 thanks to going 6-for-6 from the free throw line during a stretch. The Cardinals broke a two-minute scoring drought with a layup, but Dauda had an answer with an and-1, as the Hogs went up by 11. UIW had a successful 3-point play on the other end to cut the lead to eight, but Dauda had a nice cut in the basket, as Scott found her for the layup. Dauda then came up with a second-chance layup off her own miss, elevating her point total in the quarter to 11. UIW then had an answer at the buzzer with a second-chance layup. Arkansas led, 46-36, going into the final 10 minutes.
Scott nailed down a jumper on the Hogs’ opening possession of the fourth quarter. The Cardinals had an answer with a jumper, but Scott had another response with a layup. Off an Arkansas turnover, UIW nailed a 3-pointer. After Arkansas committed three turnovers in less than 1 1/2 minutes, Scott nailed down a jumper to earn her 10th 20-point game of the year. UIW took a timeout, as the Hogs led, 52-41 with 6:26 left in the game. Scott knocked down her fourth triple of the game. At the media timeout taken at the 4:38 mark, Arkansas held a 55-41 lead. Arkansas’ scoring run continued out of the media timeout to a 15-3 one capped off by a Poffenbarger triple and a second chance layup by Cristina Sánchez Cerqueira. The Hogs got a basket from Karley Johnson, her first field goal at Arkansas, as the Hogs outscored the Cardinals, 21-12 in the fourth quarter. Arkansas cruised to a 67-48 victory.
Arkansas will get SEC play started on Thursday at Kentucky. The Hogs and Wildcats will tipoff at 6 p.m. CT from Rupp Arena on SEC Network Plus.
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