FAYETTEVILLE -- Chrissy Carr scored 17 points, Samara Spencer notched her second career double-double, and the University of Arkansas women's basketball team never trailed en route to a 69-47 win over Louisiana Tech in the Women's National Invitation Tournament opener Thursday night at Walton Arena.
Arkansas (22-12) grabbed a 3-0 lead 33 seconds into the game with a Carr three-pointer, and the Razorbacks never relinquished the advantage. Coach Mike Neighbors' team led by as many as 23, and withstood multiple Lady Techsters runs for a wire-to-wire victory.
"You don't ever know how you're going to come off of a layoff, and how you're going to deal with coming out of that living room at my house when we don't get in [the NCAA Tournament]," Neighbors said. "You don't know until you play. So I'm really happy that our group took the lumps that we took in the SEC this year, but learned from them and played a played a good game against a good team."
The Razorbacks raced out to an 11-2 lead by the first media timeout, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Spencer. Despite a four-minute scoring drought, the Razorbacks ended the quarter ahead 15-3. The Lady Techsters were held to 1-of-15 shooting in the period.
"[Neighbors] said in the break going into the second quarter, he was like, 'If they score three points for the next three quarters, then we win the game,'" Spencer said. "And it was easy math [and it was in] a joking matter, but it was true. Like if we just played how we were playing and held them to what we held them to, we would end up winning the game."
Arkansas went ahead 19-3 in the second quarter's early stages, but Louisiana Tech found its rhythm offensively. Midway through, the Lady Techsters used an 8-0 run to pull within 24-17. The Razorbacks then countered with a 9-0 run of their own and closed the half leading 35-21.
Former Lonoke High School star Keiunna Walker led Louisiana Tech with six points at intermission. She ended the game with a team-high 16 points, playing in front of her own mini-fan base, which made the trip to Fayetteville.
"I was really excited for her when the brackets were released, that she could come home and play in front of her fans and her family," Louisana Tech Coach Brooke Stoehr said of Walker, while wiping away tears. "And, you know, Keiunna's meant a lot. We're in a day and age in college athletics where you don't get to see a player stay somewhere for four and five years.
"She used her covid year, and she could have gone other places, but she was committed to our program and committed to finishing what she started."
Continuing the theme of runs, Louisiana Tech opened the third quarter scoring six unanswered points to pull within 35-27. Neighbors' team responded by closing the quarter outscoring the Lady Techsters 13-10, highlighted by Carr's third make from deep to put the Razorbacks up by double digits again.
The Razorbacks entered the fourth quarter ahead 51-37, then closed out the visitors with a strong finish on both ends. After Louisiana Tech pulled within 53-40 on a pair of free throws from Walker, Arkansas ended the contest outscoring the Lady Techsters 16-7.
Erynn Barnum scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and became the third Razorback in double figures. Spencer stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Saylor Poffenbarger hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds in just 28 minutes, and became the first Razorback to ever exceed 200 defensive boards in a season.
Arkansas will host Stephen F. Austin in Round Two of the WNIT at 7 p.m. Monday.
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Box score
LA. TECHMFGFTO-RPFAPTS
Roberson223-124-54-93010
Walker306-184-42-63116
Sant310-50-01-4200
Bates152-60-11-2124
Nativi341-31-42-10304
Wurm173-50-10-2006
Lee243-110-00-3206
Green190-30-00-2100
Thompson20-10-00-0200
Smith20-10-00-0000
Angoi20-01-20-0001
Bukvic20-00-00-0010
Team4-8
Totals20018-6510-1714-4617447
PCT. — FG 27.7, FT 58.8. 3-PT. — 1-13, 7.7 (Nativi 1-2, Sant 0-4, Bates 0-3, Walker 0-2, Green 0-2) BL — 3 (Nativi 2). TO — 11 (Nativi 3) ST — 1 (Sant 1).
ARKANSASMFGFTO-RPFAPTS
Barnum247-120-00-62314
Poffenbarger271-70-00-11033
Spencer345-142-30-611114
Carr314-155-60-52117
Daniels311-52-21-3425
Langerman140-20-01-4000
Ellis81-10-00-0202
Wolfenbarger182-32-21-3006
Dauda93-32-21-2108
Hughes20-00-00-0100
Johnson10-00-00-0000
Lindsey10-00-00-1000
Team1-1
Totals20024-6213-155-42132069
PCT. — FG 38.7, FT 86.7. 3-PT. — 8-28, 28.6 (Carr 4-13, Spencer 2-4, Daniels 1-3, Poffenbarger 1-5, Barnum 0-2, Langerman 0-1) BL — 7 (Wolfenbarger 2) TO — 7 (Spencer 3) ST — 4 (Poffenbarger 1, Carr 1, Daniels 1, Dauda 1).
Louisiana Tech3181610—47
Arkansas15201321—69
Officials — Baker, Klomfas, Lanie
Attendance — 1,460