FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas women's basketball coach Mike Neighbors said his team needs to be challenged and his Razorbacks had an emphatic answer Sunday afternoon in Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas finished the game with an incredible 39-13 run over the final 12 minutes, after Texas-Arlington pulled within eight, to claim a 91-57 victory.
Arkansas 91, Texas-Arlington 57
Texas-Arlington^12^12^22^11^—^57
Arkansas^14^23^26^28^—^91
Texas-Arlington (5-5): Van Dijk 14, Richardson 12, McGowen 10, Parker 7, Machado 4, Billie 4, Alexander 2, Evans 2, Johnson 2.
Arkansas (8-3): Northcross-Baker 22, Monk 20, Mason 15, Swenson 10, Cosper 8, Zimmerman 6, Stout 4, Spangler 3, Williams 2, Weaver 1.
Three-Point Goals: Texas-Arlington 3-15, Arkansas 12-28. Rebounds: Texas Arlington 27, Arkansas 40, Turnovers: Texas-Arlington 22, Arkansas 14. Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: Thomas, Arkansas.
Officials: Tina Napier, Brian Garland, Eric Koch.
Attendance: 1,102.
"I think they got us going," Neighbors said. "I think this team is one of those teams like the great racehorses sometimes that kinda need to see that opponent running with them to get going. I'm not saying it's a great quality to have. It would be OK to be a front-runner and get out there and blow away a lead.
"But I think sometimes we need to see that. We need to take a body blow or a shot to the jaw to get us going. And I thought when they punched and they got excited, we got excited right back. We were composed about it and went about our business and I thought we dominated the last 14 or 15 minutes of the game."
Raven Northcross-Baker heated up from the perimeter and helped the Razorbacks (8-3) pull away from the bigger Mavericks. The junior from Malvern came off the bench to pour in a game-high 22 points, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range.
Texas-Arlington (5-5) got within 52-44 thanks a 7-2 spurt finished on Shelby Richard's 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 18 seconds left in the third quarter. But Arkansas cranked up the pace and ran the Mavericks out of the gym the rest of the way.
The Razorbacks scored 11 points in the final 1:51 of the third quarter. They opened the fourth quarter with three consecutive 3-pointers, including back-to-back from Northcross-Baker for a 72-46 lead with 8:29 left to cap a 20-2 spurt.
Neighbors said he sees how well Northcross-Baker can shoot the ball in practice every day. It just hasn't shown up in games much yet.
"She's a confident kid, bur she is streaky and when she gets one or two to go then everything starts feeling good," Neighbors said. "When you see that follow through, she holds that follow through just a little extra longer, then you start running plays for her. Teammates start trying to find her."
That's what happened against Texas-Arlington as she made 8 of 11 shots from the floor to post a season high.
Northcross-Baker had plenty of help offensively as Malica Monk added 20 points, including 12-of-12 from the free-throw line. Jailyn Mason added 15 points and seven assists and Keiryn Swenson chipped in 10 off the bench.
The 5-foot-7 junior college transfer from Chipola College tries to provide a spark off the bench. She did that Sunday, but other aspects of her game led to the offense, Northcross-Baker said.
"The thing I just hammer myself about is defense, defensive intensity," said Northcross-Baker, who added three assists and three steals in 27 minutes. "If I can get my teammates going defensively then we're gonna knock down shots eventually. When I first came in, I had two assists and once I got my assists going I knew it was going to be a good night because I was finding my teammates and I knew they were gonna find me."
Rebekah VanDijk, a 6-5 senior, led the Mavericks with 14 points, while Richards added 12 and Laurynn McGowen chipped in 10.
Sports on 12/18/2017