Jackson Has Season-High In SEC Tournament

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Sophomore Jessica Jackson poured in a season-high 25 points to lead the ninth-seeded University of Arkansas women’s basketball team to a huge 72-61 win over No. 8 Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Tournament in North Little Rock, Ark. on Thursday afternoon.

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With the win, the Razorbacks improve to 17-12 on the season and move on to face No. 1 seed South Carolina in the quarterfinal round on March 6, while the Rebels fall to 17-13 overall.

Jackson scored 21 of her 25 in the second half and went 8-for-8 from the line to lead the Razorbacks. Senior Calli Berna chipped in with a season-high 14 points and six assists, while sophomore Kelsey Brooks added 13 points and five boards. Freshman McKenzie Bostad, who had a solid first half for the Razorbacks, tallied nine points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of action.

Ole Miss started quickly and jumped out to a 19-12 advantage with 8:44 left in the opening frame. Arkansas responded in a big was with a 15-5 spurt, highlighted by seven points from freshman McKinley Bostad, to grab a 27-24 advantage (2:38).

A Rebel triple and free throw put the No. 8 seed ahead by a point (28-27) with less than 100 seconds remaining in the half. Bostad would put the Razorbacks ahead by one point (29-28) after making a pair of free throws at the 1:21 mark. Both teams would go scoreless over the final 81 seconds and Arkansas took a 29-28 advantage into the locker room at the intermission.

After a free throw from Ole Miss’ A’Queen Hayes cut the Arkansas advantage to 38-35 (16:05), the Razorbacks employed a huge 17-6 run, capped by a Jackson baseline jumper, to take a 55-41 advantage with less than eight minutes left in regulation.

Arkansas went on to hold off Ole Miss and pick up the 72-61 victory, thanks to 12-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe over the final 4:34 of the contest.

The Razorbacks will return to court tomorrow afternoon for a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded and nationally-ranked South Carolina (27-2). Tipoff is set for Noon CT and the game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.

@CoachJimmyDykes Postgame Sound
On The Win

“Well, it’s a great win for Arkansas today because Ole Miss is a very good basketball team.  They came in winning three out of their last four. Matt does a great job in his second year and has that program on the rise. We were the better team today.  We did some really good things.  It was as good of a team win as we had all season. We got them on the boards 33‑29 and felt like we could drive the ball on them, so we kept a lot of the drive action going in the game.”

On The Team’s Performance And NCAA Tournament Hopes
“We were good. We were a good team today. We’re playing like an NCAA tournament team right now. I really hope that (NCAA Tournament) happens for us because that was our 17th win this year against a strength of schedule that’s top 15 in the country. We’ve done everything that the Selection Committee asks you to do in terms of being aggressive with your schedule, playing on the road. Out of the Power 5 conferences, we’re second in the nation in terms of the number of wins we had on the road or neutral floor. That has to hold up.”


POST GAME NOTES
THE SERIES (ARKANSAS vs. OLE MISS)

  • Arkansas is 15-25 all-time with Ole Miss.  The Razorbacks are 10-5 in Fayetteville, 2-15 in Oxford and 3-5 on a neutral floor.
  • Arkansas is 3-4 all time in the postseason against the Lady Rebels.
  • Arkansas is 1-1 under Jimmy Dykes against Ole Miss.

IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT

  • Arkansas is a ninth seed for the fifth time in school history
  • Arkansas has been as high as a fifth seed (2012, 1995)
  • Arkansas has been as low as a 12th seed (2010)
  • Arkansas’ most common SEC Tournament opponent is Ole Miss with the teams meeting for the seventh time since the Razorbacks joined the SEC
  • Arkansas is 3-4 against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament
  • Arkansas’ win over Ole Miss is the first win since 2012 for the Razorbacks in the opening round of the SEC Tournament
  • Arkansas is 2-0 all-time against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament (1995, 2002)
  • Arkansas is 17-13 all-time against South Carolina including 0-1 this year