FAYETTEVILLE — After what he described as a few “flat moments” in practice following a 15-point loss to No. 2 UCLA, seventh-year Arkansas women’s basketball coach Mike Neighbors was wary of how his team would perform against Louisiana Tech. The Razorbacks quickly removed those doubts Thursday night in front of 2,599 at Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas took a 10-0 lead in the blink of an eye and rolled to a 100-60 victory over the Lady Techsters. It was second win this calendar year for the Razorbacks over Louisiana Tech. Arkansas defeated the Lady Techsters 69-47 in March during the first round of the WNIT.
Neighbors applauded his three returning starters from last season — Makayla Daniels, Samara Spencer and Saylor Poffenbarger — for making certain the team did not allow a letdown. “I give Mak, Sam, and Saylor that credit,” Neighbors said. “They got the team together. We had a couple of flat moments in practice. That’s why I was concerned. There wasn’t a lot of juice in practice. And that’s understandable coming off the four-game stretch that we had been on that had been really, really tough.”
The victory came in wake of a stretch of games for the Razorbacks (8-2) against Wisconsin, Marquette, Florida State and UCLA. The latter three opponents are ranked in the top 20 of this week’s AP Top 25. “We don’t want to be that team that only plays to a certain standard based on what your opponent is ranked or something,” Neighbors said. “I also don’t try to fool our kids….I try to be as honest with them as I can. I knew that there was a potential for a letdown, but those three had them ready to go at practice.”
