FAYETTEVILLE – It is the first day of March, and the eighth-seed Arkansas women’s basketball (20-11, 7-9 SEC) team is set to play at the 2023 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament beginning on Thursday morning. The Razorbacks will square off against ninth-seed Missouri (17-12, 6-10 SEC), a team Arkansas has faced twice this season, while marking the sixth matchup between the two teams in a span of two seasons. Thursday’s game against the Tigers is set to tipoff at 11 a.m. CT in Bon Secours Wellness Center on SEC Network. Thursday’s winner will move on to the quarterfinals to face No. 1 South Carolina on Friday.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, March 2Time: 11 a.m. CT
Opponent: Missouri
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Center
Watch: SECN
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
Missouri Game Notes
SEC Championship Central
STORYLINES
- Arkansas is the No. 8 seed, set to play No. 9 seed Missouri in the first round of the 2023 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina
- The matchup marks the third time this season Arkansas will face Missouri, as well as the second straight year the Battle Line rivals will play one another three times in a season. Winner of this game will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on Friday, March 3 at 11 a.m. CT
- Arkansas has the edge in the first two games played against the Tigers, winning both by an average margin of 25.0 points. In the last matchup, Arkansas held Missouri to just 33 points, which marked a new record of least defensive points given up in an SEC game in program history
- The Razorbacks are looking for one final push for an NCAA Tournament berth
- Arkansas holds the 20-12 advantage over Missouri, 14-8 as SEC opponents, in the all-time series
- SEC All-Conference awards were just announced. Erynn Barnum earned a spot on the SEC Second Team, while Saylor Poffenbarger was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team
- The team is coming off the program’s 22nd 20-win season, third under head coach Mike Neighbors after beating Texas A&M, 78-65
- The team started the season 13-0 and finished the non-conference slate at 13-2, with its win total leading the country for majority of the non-conference season
- Barnum leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.3 points and is tied for the most rebounds with 6.6 per game. Her .573 field goal percentage leads the SEC, as it has majority of the season. She surpassed 1,000 points in her career and became the 18th Razorback to join the 1,000 points/500 rebound club later last month
- Barnum is one of 10 candidates for the Katrina McClain Award, given to the best power forward in the country
- Samara Spencer is the second leading scorer with 14.0 points per game and leads the team in assists with 133. Her 4.3 assists per game is the fifth most in the SEC
- Makayla Daniels leads the team in steals with 51 and averages 12.9 points per game
- Daniels keeps moving up in career top 10-20 lists, sitting No. 16 in points (1,376), No. 4 in career starts (116), No. 9 in career 3-pointers (162) and No. 14 in career assists (301)
- Chrissy Carr logs 11.5 points per game and leads the squad with 71 3-pointers
- Poffenbarger ties for a team’s best 6.6 rebounds per game and leads the team with 35 blocks. She has 180 defensive rebounds and needs 11 more to earn the individual season defensive rebound record
- The team is second in least turnovers committed per game in the SEC with 13.7 per game
- Arkansas gets to the line 23.5 times per game, which is second in the conference and sixth in the country. The Razorbacks’ 15.6 makes from the free throw line per game is third in the SEC and 13th in the NCAA
- Arkansas leads the SEC in 3-point attempts per game (26.9), which is 11th in the country, and No. 2 in 3-pointers per game (8.0) in the league