by By KYLIE MAGAR
FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (13-4, 1-1 SEC) pushed Thursday’s loss to the side, as the Hogs cruised past Georgia (10-5, 1-1 SEC) in wire-to-wire fashion, 83-43. The 40-point victory in Arkansas’ first SEC win of the season marked the third largest margin in an SEC game in school history, while also tying a season best margin of victory. The 83 points the Hogs put up marked the most points the Bulldogs have given up in a game this season. Four Hogs finished in double figures in scoring, led by Makayla Daniels’ season-high 24 points. The Hogs were also hot from beyond the arc, matching a season-high 14 triples, while holding Georgia to 27 percent shooting from the field. Arkansas also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bulldogs and tallied its seventh win against Georgia in the series.
Arkansas went 0-for-2 to start the game, but Carly Keats found an open Makayla Daniels, who drained the Hogs’ first of 14 3-pointers of the game. Daniels then came up with an and-1 to help the Hogs go up, 5-0, to start the game. Daniels then splashed in her second triple of the game, but Georgia had a response with a contested jumper. Maryam Dauda got her first score of the game with a layup off a miss and Keats came up with a rim runner. At the media timeout taken at the 4:26 mark, Arkansas led, 13-6. Out of the break, Dauda was 4-of-4 from the free throw line, which started an 8-0 run. A Keats jumper pulled the Hogs ahead by 10, 19-6, as Georgia took a timeout with three minutes left to play in the frame. Georgia responded out of the break with a 3-pointer, but Daniels had an answer with her third triple of the game. The Hogs led, 24-9, at the end of the first quarter, ending that first frame shooting 7-of-7 from the free throw line and committing zero turnovers.
The Hogs kept being aggressive to the basket and opened the quarter knocking down 5-of-6 free throws to extend their lead to 20, despite shooting 0-of-7 from the field to begin the quarter. The Bulldogs were held empty from the field for the first four minutes and some change of the quarter until Georgia knocked down a few jumpers, but Keats responded each time with a pair of triples, as Georgia took a timeout with Hogs ahead, 35-13, with 5:08 left in the frame. The Bulldogs came up with a basket, but Daniels answered with a hard-fought layup and then knocked down two freebies. With 3:43 left in the quarter, Arkansas led, 39-15. Arkansas played nearly 17 minutes before committing its first turnover. Georgia knocked down its second triple, but Samara Spencer delivered a basket and got fouled in the process for a 3-point play to start an 8-0 run, which was also highlighted by a Saylor Poffenbarger triple. Another Spencer layup put the Hogs ahead by 31, and the Hogs went into the locker room with the 49-18 advantage.
Georgia opened the quarter by knocking down a 3-pointer after the Hogs came up empty on its first two possessions. Poffenbarger then knocked down a 3-pointer on the Hogs third possession to pull the Hogs back ahead by 31. Georgia then got two baskets, but Poffenbarger had another response with her third 3-pointer of the game. Arkansas was held in a scoring drought for over two minutes and then Poffenbarger and Daniels knocked down back-to-back triples, as Arkansas led, 61-25 with 4:25 left in the quarter. Out of the timeout Georgia called, Spencer knocked down the Hogs’ 11th triple of the game to extend the Hogs’ run to a 12-0 one, but the Bulldogs had an answer with a jumper. With 3:19 left in the quarter, Arkansas led, 64-27. The Hogs were held in scoring drought for over two minutes while committing a pair of turnovers, but Poffenbarger had a layup to pull Arkansas out of the drought. At the end of the third quarter, Arkansas led, 66-29.
Keats opened the second half of scoring for Arkansas with a layup. Georgia responded with three straight points, but Spencer and Daniels both knocked down triples in response. With 7:16 left in the fourth, Arkansas led 74-32, as Georgia called a timeout. With a Keats second-chance layup, Arkansas extended its lead to 44, its largest of the game. Georgia outscored Arkansas 11-7 in the remaining six minutes of the game with Karley Johnson delivering five of those points for the Hogs. Arkansas defeated the Bulldogs, 83-43.
