The University of Arkansas women's team is known for great three-point shooting, but No. 12 Maryland turned the tables on the No. 14 Razorbacks 115-96 in the final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Sunday in Fort Myers, Fla.
The 115 points were the most ever allowed by an Arkansas team, eclipsing the 114 Stanford scored on March 24, 1990.
It was the first time since 2003 Arkansas participated in a game in which both teams were ranked among the top 15 in the country. This one was all Maryland, which was coming off an 81-72 loss to No. 24 Missouri State on Saturday.
The Terrapins (2-1) hit 16 of 31 three-pointers and dominated the glass 51-31 to tag Arkansas with its first loss of the season.
Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said Maryland did what the Razorbacks like to do to their opponents defensively.
"They played great," Neighbors said on his postgame radio interview. "That thing we like to do to people, they did it to us. They hadn't proven that they can make the three. But, now they did tonight.
"They got the right people shooting them and they were in rhythm."
Katie Benzan, a 5-6 transfer from Harvard, led five Maryland players in double figures with 28, including 8 of 14 on three-pointers.
Maryland led 57-37 at halftime, then used a 41-point third quarter to push the advantage to 98-70 entering the fourth quarter. The Terrapins dominated outside and inside, outscoring Arkansas (3-1) 48-24 from three-point range and 27-13 on second-chance points.
Makayla Daniels led five Razorbacks in double figures with 21 points. Chelsea Dungee added 18, and Destiny Slocum had 16. Sophomore Marquesha Davis added 15, and Jailyn Mason scored 1 off the bench.
Neighbors said playing four games in five days to open the season is not ideal, but this year is different with the pandemic.
"When we made this schedule, we knew four games in five days was a real challenge," Neighbors said. "There's a reason you only do that during this covid year when you don't know how many games you're going to get to play. Let's play as many games as we can as fast as we can is the plan.
"And I don't regret it. Because we're sitting here at 3-1, and we know a lot about our team. Now, we need to rest and we're tired. And you could start to see that a little bit in our body language. There was no quit obviously, even after you give up a 41-point quarter."
The Razorbacks scored a school-record 37 in the third quarter Friday in defeating Wake Forest, which bounced back to knock off No. 24 Missouri State on Sunday. The Razorbacks rallied from nine down in the fourth quarter to defeat Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday.
Arkansas will host Louisiana-Monroe at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, then take on defending national champion Baylor in Walton Arena on Sunday.
Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulb.