Lady'Backs open WNIT with UNLV on Friday

TELEVISION: None

RADIO: Lady Razorback Radio Network (CST); 6:40 p.m; 7:05 tipoff

KABZ (103.7 FM), Little Rock (LIVE-JIP)

KBNV (90.1 FM), Fayetteville-Springdale (LIVE)

KXUA (88.3 FM), Fayetteville (LIVE)

KHOZ (900 AM), Harrison (LIVE)

INTERNET: LADYBACKS.COM; free audio stream

ARKANSAS LADY RAZORBACKS (16-13, 3-11 SEC)

POSSIBLE STARTERS

F 14 Danielle Allen 6-0 SO Harrison, AR (Harrison) 9.4 5.3

F 33 Sarah Pfeifer 6-0 SO Ozark, AR (High) 11.8 4.5

G 4 Kristin Peoples 5-7 SO Westerville, OH (Brookhaven) 9.6 3.0a 1.8s

G 21 Rochelle Vaughn 5-9 JR Plano, TX (Plano West) 9.4 4.5 2.8a

G 44 Adrienne Bush 5-8 SR Russellville, AR (High/SMS) 3.3 2.4

OFF THE BENCH

P 11 Kristina Andjelkovic 6-2 JR Belgrade, Serbia (Chipola JC) 1.9 1.3

G 12 Sheree Thompson 5-10 JR McComb, MS (NW-Shoals) 5.8 2.7 2.6a

G 15 Allison Singleton 5-5 SR Fort Smith, AR (Southside) 0.4 0.0

G 22 April Seggebruch 5-10 SR Cissna Park, IL (Wabash Valley) 3.5 1.4

G/F 23 Melissa Hobbs 6-0 JR Woodward, OK (High/Colo.) 2.4 1.3

G 25 Brittney Vaughn 5-7 FR Plano, TX (Plano West) 3.7 2.0 1.7a

INJURED

F/P 1 Kristin Moore 6-1 JR Chicago, Ill. (John Hope) 6.3 5.9

P 55 Ruby Vaden 6-3 JR Osceola, AR, (High) 6.5 3.9

HEAD COACH: Susie Gardner (Second year at Arkansas, 32-25; eighth overall, 144-117)

UNLV LADY REBELS (16-14, 6-8 MWC, t5th)

POSSIBLE STARTERS

F 12 Sequoia Holmes 6-1 FR Las Vegas, NV 8.4 4.9

F/C 22 RanDee Henry 6-1 SR Detroit, MI 14.0 8.5

F/G 21 Nikki Hitchens 5-11 JR Las Vegas, NV 8.6 5.1

G 00 Sheena Moore 5-7 JR Lansing, MI 14.7 3.4 3.7a

G 20 Brittney Thomas 5-7 JR Lakewood, CA 6.4 1.4

OFF THE BENCH

G 44 Shana Coleman 5-9 SR Colorado Springs, CO 5.2 1.3

F/C 51 Amy Loftus 6-4 SR Maryville, IL 3.6 1.5

G 14 Latosha Pace 5-11 FR Detroit, MI 4.0 1.8

F 32 Kisha Lee 6-0 SO Chicago, IL 3.4 1.6

G 3 Kameca Simmons 5-9 SO Compton, CA 3.2 1.5

G 1 Nejlah Clark 5-9 JR Detroit, MI 1.4 1.6

HEAD COACH: Regina Miller (Seventh year at UNLV, 135-47)

WELCOME TO MARCH: Arkansas enters the Sportsview.TV Women’s NIT to face the 2004 tournament runner-up UNLV Lady Rebels in the opening round. Both teams have almost identical records with Arkansas posting a 16-13 mark and UNLV at 16-14.

ABOUT THE LADY RAZORBACKS: Susie Gardner comes to the close of her second season at Arkansas with one of the most interesting seasons in school history. At the start of the year, Arkansas returned four starters from a 16-12 team, and picks up two more potential starters that missed virtually all of 2003-04 with injury. At the same time, the Lady’Backs have only three seniors with a combined varsity experience of a season and a half at Arkansas. Defense dominated for Arkansas as the Lady Razorbacks early this season had one of the best starts in school history. At midseason, the Lady’Backs lost starting center Kristin Moore and her primary backup Ruby Vaden for the season to ACL injuries. Gardner retooled the team again as conference play began, splitting the four-spot combo of Sarah Pfeifer and Danielle Allen into a power-and-speed post tandem.

ABOUT THE LADY REBELS: The preseason pick to win the Mountain West, UNLV finished fifth place in the MWC at 6-8 with a 16-14 regular season record. The Lady Rebels make their fourth postseason appearance in the past five seasons for head coach Regina Miller. UNLV is led by a pair of 1,000-point scorers in junior guard Sheena Moore (14.7 ppg) and senior forward RanDee Henry (14 ppg). The Lady Rebels bring the most potent offense in the Mountain West to Walton Arena, and one of the top 10 rebounding margins in the country. Injuries changed the Lady Rebel lineup this season, but newcomers like freshman forward Sequoia Holmes (8.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and junior guard Brittney Thomas (6.4 ppg) have joined with returning players like junior forward Nikki Hitchens (8.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg) to fill the gaps.

PLAYER NOTES, PAST GAMES MOVED TO POSTSEASON GUIDE: Specifics on each player, including up-to-date career numbers, are in our postseason guide package.

THE OFFICIAL NAME: It’s the Postseason Sportsview.TV Women’s NIT, but Women’s NIT works just fine.

WIPE THE SLATE CLEAN: Arkansas heads into the eighth annual Women’s NIT with a 0-0 mark and the chance to make some noise in the post season.

LOOKING IN THE MIRROR: Same records, same tournament results. Arkansas went 1-1 in the SEC Tournament, defeating Miss State before losing to Vanderbilt, while UNLV was 1-1 in the Mountain West, downing Wyoming before falling to New Mexico. Both teams lost preseason all-conference inside players (Ruby Vaden for Arkansas; Sherry McCracklin for UNLV). Both have had games where it all clicked on offense and both have games with historic lows. For Vegas, the Lady Rebels 45-43 loss at Michigan marked the lowest combined score (88) in school history, and nearly equalled it with 89 in a 46-43 loss to Wyoming. Arkansas hit bottom for points scored in a conference game and tied its worst SEC margin of defeat.

SOMETHING TO PROVE: Both teams arrive at Friday’s game with agendas after their final regular season games. UNLV missed a last-second three-point shot that could have sent the Lady Rebels into the MWC finals while Arkansas squandered a second-half lead against Vanderbilt. Both teams held second half leads, although UNLV had its advantage much later in the game as New Mexico used a 13-4 run in the last minutes to advance past UNLV.

LADY REBELS PACK OFFENSIVE PUNCH: A Lady Rebel has led the Mountain West in scoring almost the entire season, and the program has traditionally produced the top scorer in the MWC. Sheena Moore topped the conference for six of the last seven weeks of the regular season, with teammate RanDee Henry leading the league for 16 weeks in 2003-04. Moore has five games this year with 20 or more points, including a whopping 34 (of a team total 69) against Minnesota.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR ARKANSAS: RanDee Henry has 10 double-double games this season, with highs of 25 points and 11 boards against Northern Arizona and 10 points with 15 rebounds against Wyoming. For her career, Henry has 23 double-double games, edging just ahead of her injured teammate Sherry McCracklin’s 21.

DON’T CALL THEM RUNNING (EVEN THOUGH THEY DO): Please keep in mind — Lady Rebels and UNLV, not Running Rebels (that’s the men’s basketball team) or Nevada-Las Vegas.

HEY, THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR: UNLV lost two players to injury for the season in 2004-05, 6-2 senior Sherry McCracklin and 6-1 sophomore Tashina Terry.

COMMON FOES: The Lady’Backs and Lady Rebels share a single common opponent — South Carolina. Vegas downed USC in the second game of the year, 66-63, while the Lady’Backs took care of the Gamecocks at midseason, 61-49.

TOUGH BREAKS: It’s been a hard-luck season for the Lady Rebels. Picked as the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West, UNLV has lost three of its non-conference games by one bucket, and in all three the Lady Rebels had the chance to win or send the game into overtime. UNLV also has four more heartbreakers in conference play, including its last regular season game.

CONFERENCE NUMBERS: Sarah Pfeifer ranks 16th in the SEC in scoring (11.9 ppg) as the teams head to the post season with Danielle Allen (9.4 ppg) breaking the top 30 at 30th. Allen ranks eighth in the SEC in field goal percentage (.475) and 17th in rebounding (5.5 rpg). Both starting guards rank in the SEC’s top 15 for assists with Kristin Peoples 12th with 3.1 apg and Rochelle Vaughn tied for 14th with 2.9 apg. The duo reverse positions on the steal list with Vaughn ranked seventh at 2.1 spg and Peoples at 15th with 1.8 spg. Vaughn also ranks 15th in three-pointers made per game with 1.32. Peoples is ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio. Pfeifer ranks 13th in the league in field goal percentage (.733)

SERIES: The series is tied at 1-1, with UNLV winning the first meeting back in the early 1980s. Arkansas took the last meeting in November of 1994 as Kimberly Wilson led the Lady’Backs to the tournament title at Vegas. The first game was the final of three contests at the UNLV Round Robin Classic on Jan. 7, 1984. The last meeting was the title game of the 7-Up/Desert Classic on Nov. 26.

THE DECADE SERIES: With Friday’s game, Arkansas and UNLV have played in women’s basketball about every 10 years since the respective programs started.

LEAVING LAS VEGAS: The Lady Rebels face Arkansas in Fayetteville for the first time, and had quite an adventure in reaching Arkansas due to Spring Break bookings into Las Vegas.

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Arkansas brings an active winning streak against non-conference teams at 21 games, and overall for the 2004-05 season stands at 9-4.

NO PLACE FOR THE NON-CONFERENCE: The Indiana win tied the longest winning streak in Arkansas history at home against non-conference teams at 19 game, then broke the mark with Wichita State. After defeating Oregon, the Lady’Backs move the non-conference streak to 21 games, and with the WNIT returning to Walton Arena puts the streak back into play. The last non-conference team to win at Walton Arena was Northern Iowa — ironic — on Dec. 7, 2001.

WHAT’S HOT: In the last five games . . .

ROCHELLE VAUGHN is .455 from behind the line and 12 ppg

SARAH PFEIFER is hitting 17.2 ppg

APRIL SEGGEBRUCH is .500 from three-point range

TEAM THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE is .356

WHAT’S NOT: In the last five games . . .

KRISTIN PEOPLES assist-to-turnover ratio drops negative to 1:1.13

FIELD GOAL DEFENSE balloons to .497

SCORING MARGIN drops to -10.4

REBOUNDING is down to 29.6 with a margin of -12.8

WHY GO — WHERE YOUNG TEAMS GET EXPERIENCE: This season, Arkansas is the prototypical WNIT team. The Lady’Backs return every player that’s started in conference play and lose only one scholarship player. Arkansas‘ current roster has only four players with any post-season experience. True, two of those four players are out for the season — Kristin Moore and Ruby Vaden — but that allows the other two — Sarah Pfeifer and Danielle Allen — plus the rest of the squad the chance to gain valuable postseason game experience.

AND THOSE POSTSEASON NUMBERS: Recall that Sarah Pfeifer was coming off in-season arthroscopic shoulder surgery heading to the 2003 NCAA First and Second Round in Cincinnati, Ohio. Pfeifer played only 27 minutes in the games with UC and Texas, scoring 4.5 ppg wiht 3.0 rpg and 40% from the field. Rochelle Vaughn saw the most time of the four players with post season experience, but that was only 43 minutes for a 22.5 per game average. Vaughn has yet to hit a postseason three-pointer and has only four points scored in two games. Ruby Vaden has the best postseason numbers of the four with .750 from the field for 17 total points (8.5 ppg) and 14 rebounds (7.0 rpg), but played only 37 total minutes for 18.5 per game. Kristin Moore did not play in the Cincinnati game, and saw only three minutes playing time against Texas. Recall that hometown hero Cara Wright had been given the starting spot in both games.

WOMEN’S NIT RUNDOWN: The 32-team field is released on Sunday, with home sites for the opening rounds of play. The first two rounds of the WNIT tend to pair teams regionally. This is the eighth season for the Women’s NIT. Last year, Creighton won the tournament by defeating UNLV in the championship round.

SEC PLACES NINE IN THE POST SEASON: The glass is half full as the SEC placed a record number of four teams in the Women’s NIT — Arkansas, Kentucky, Florida and Miss State — but one of the lowest in the NCAA tournament with five — Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Vandy and Ole Miss. The previous WNIT high was three and the NCAA low was four (1992, 1985). No other league placed as many teams in the postseason with a total of nine. The ACC and Big 12 had eight, followed by the Big Ten and Big East with seven.

ARKANSAS IN OPENING POSTSEASON GAMES: The Lady’Backs have never lost a postseason opening round game in a non-associational (NCAA, AIAW) tournament — a 4-0 record. The last time Arkansas lost its first game in the postseason, Amber Shirey was a freshman point guard Amber Nicholas as the Lady’Backs lost to Purdue in the first round of the 1989 NCAA. This gives the Lady’Backs a 10-game win streak for any postseason opener (7 NCAA, 2 WNIT, 2 NWIT). All-time in the first postseason game, Arkansas is 12-4 (7-2 NCAA, 1-2 AIAW, 2-0 WNIT, 2-0 NWIT).

VEGAS NO SLOUCH IN THE WNIT: UNLV reached the 2004 championship game with four wins in the event last season before losing to Creighton. The Lady Rebels make their fourth postseason appearance in the past five seasons and the seventh in school history.

GARDNER SEEKS FIRST POST WIN: Last time Susie Gardner was in the postseason, she was scaring highly-seeded North Carolina to death in the 2003 NCAA Tournament as the head coach at Austin Peay. Gardner got APSU to the NCAA three straight seasons, but lost her opening round games each time.

HEY, THAT SCHEDULE’S STARTING TO LOOK PRETTY GOOD: Notable among Arkansas‘ non-conference games (and wins) are Louisiana-Lafayette and UMKC, both surprise teams reaching their respective tournament finals. Oregon was the second seed at the Pac-10 tournament, but was upset in the semifinals by Arizona. Of course, Arkansas played four games against the SEC Tournament finalists, LSU and Tennessee. Indiana came within a point of advancing out of day one at the Big 10 against Wisconsin. Memphis reached day two at Conference USA.

PROGRAM IS TOURNAMENT TESTED: The Lady’Backs have two previous appearances in the Women’s NIT. Coming off the 1998 NCAA Final Four season, Arkansas accepted a WNIT bid to continue its season and ran the table for the title. Arkansas returned again in 2000, and reached the semifinals. All nine of the Lady’Backs’ WNIT games have been at Bud Walton Arena.

NOTHING TO FEAR BUT THE SEC ITSELF: In the WNIT, Arkansas is a perfect 8-0 against non-conference foes, picking up its only loss to Florida in the 2000 semifinals. If you add in the previous NWIT where the Lady’Backs are 4-2 overall and 4-1 against non-conference teams, the Lady’Backs are a combined 12-3 overall and 12-1 with non-conference teams in the non-association postseason games.

COUNT IT OVER WHEN: Arkansas leads at halftime (10-0), scores over 80 points (6-0), holds the opponent under 35% from the field (6-0).

THAT 70s TEAM: When Arkansas scores more than 70 points, the Lady’Backs are 14-2. Less than 70, only 2-10.

NOW THE TWO: After leading the nation most of the year, Arkansas is now second in the country in steals per game after the Feb. 14 rankings. Heading into March, Arkansas still stands at second in the nation. North Carolina broke Arkansas‘ run of seven straight reporting weeks at No. 1, edging past the Lady’Backs with 14.5 steals to 14.4 for Arkansas, for the Jan. 31 report (the eighth of the year).

ALL HANDS ON DECK: Phill Vardiman is knocking on every piece of wood he can find as the Lady’Backs head to the postseason with all available players reasonably healthy for the first time in three weeks.

NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARKANSAS GAMES

ARKANSAS‘ RPI HITS TOP 30: After defeating Oregon, the Lady Razorbacks moved to 27th in the WBCA/Summerville RPI in late December. At the time, the Lady’Backs was 1-1 against the RPI top 25 — win over Indiana, loss to Purdue — then 1-0 against top 50 teams (Oregon at #32).

GAME WINNERS: Arkansas has a four-game winning streak when it comes to last-minute contests. After failing to make the crucial score in the closing minute against Purdue, and in turn losing 55-51, Arkansas has used clutch plays to defeat Memphis, Western Kentucky, Indiana and Oregon. Emblematic of Arkansas‘ team concept, each of the four games had a different Lady’Back providing the defining moment. With Oregon, it was Sheree Thompson’s block of Gabrielle Richards’ three-point attempt with one second left. At Memphis, Sarah Pfeifer came off the bench for a run-stopping jump shot in the closing minutes. With Western Kentucky, Rochelle Vaughn’s 10-foot jumper in the lane sealed the game in the last seconds. Versus Indiana, Kristin Peoples stepped to the free throw line to sink the icing points.

TIES BEST 10-GAME START: With the win over Oregon, Arkansas ties the school mark for best 10-game start at 9-1. The Lady’Backs have reached 9-1 three other times in the program’s 28 year history, with the most recent coming in 2002-03. In 1994-95 Arkansas went to 10-1 and 1996-97 saw the best "and one" start going 13-1 before losing at Illinois.

ARKANSAS’ BRIEF RETURN TO ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL: For the first time since Week Five (12/15/03) of last year’s poll, the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks are among the also receiving votes for the Associated Press Top 25 on Dec. 27 (week 7). The Lady’Backs were in the preseason and first four weeks of last season’s poll after spending a complete year ranked in 2003-04. Arkansas jumps in with 15 votes after defeating the Oregon Ducks, who drop from near the top 25 to only six votes this week. The 15 votes puts Arkansas in the middle of the "alsos." Arkansas received no votes from the coaches. After losing at Georgia, the Lady’Backs dropped from the poll in week 8.

THE CRUELEST CUT: Arkansas and Florida get the worst of the two-year cycle of rotating partners. Both teams have the low seed score of the conference divisions, but for the two-year rotation the Lady’Backs receive an average score of 8.5. The Gators are next with 10 for average. For 2005 only, Arkansas gets eight from LSU (1), UT (2) and UM (5), while Florida goes one lower with LSU (1), VU (3) and UG (4). The rest of the league has some balance. Auburn is next with 13 then Vanderbilt with 17. The rest are 20 and over: USC, 21; UM, 21; UK, 22; UG, 23; MSU, 24; Bama, 25; LSU, 26; UT, 26.

COULD BE AN UNFORTUNATE FIRST: Excluding preseason injuries like Sheree Thompson’s opening day ACL last season, Arkansas could face a first certainly in recent history, if not the first time in the 29-year-history of the program, should Ruby Vaden’s knee injury prove season ending. Arkansas lost Kristin Moore on Jan. 2 to a torn ACL, and if Vaden is out for the year it could be the first time for two starters to go down during the season.

THE SUPER D BECOMES SURVIVOR: With the loss of Kristin Moore at Cincinnati with an ACL, the Lady’Backs’ ability to pressure became limited. Moore was a critical part of the press with her mobility as a five player on the back end, and a considerable amount of the transition offense flowed through her hands. Five games later when Arkansas lost its second post player to ACL — junior backup Ruby Vaden — the Super D became more a game of survivor. The press and full-court work is limited with only three post players — former sixth-player Sarah Pfeifer, starting four player Danielle Allen and Kristina Andjelkovic — and a converted guard — 6-0 Melissa Hobbs — as the entire post rotation.

I AM SHAMEKA CHRISTON: When the season started, everyone wanted to know what Arkansas would do to replace the SEC Player of the Year’s 20-plus points per game. The answer was a team approach in which different players have taken their turn as the go-to scorer. It started with Danielle Allen hitting 20 to open the season. Midway, guards Kristin Peoples and Sheree Thompson each had their time as the big gun. Heading into the SEC homestretch, Allen (22 at Ole Miss) and Sarah Pfeifer (21 with Bama, 24 against Georgia Tech) have literally filled the 20-point gap. At the SECs, Pfeifer stepped up again with 23 points against MSU, then Rochelle Vaughn took her turn with 20 against Vandy.

THE SHOT DOCTOR: OK, it started as a joke during the Alabama postgame press conference as one of the Lady Razorback beat reporters asked if Susie Gardner thought she was the latest shooting guru after devoting three days just to the finer points of shooting after a SEC-game school-record low at Auburn. When Gardner stopped laughing, she opined that it was a good thing that the extra time shooting worked. Her players have been a little less shy about the impact of Gardner‘s intense shooting camp. Sarah Pfeifer said after her second game of shooting over 50% from the field that it all goes back to the time spend working on new shots and honing old skills.

THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Remember, in the 14-year membership in the SEC, Arkansas‘ traditional finish is, unfortunately, ninth. Also, the Lady’Backs have never won more than seven conference games in a season.

THE ROAD NEVER TRAVELED: Arkansas is the only SEC team with the privilege of playing home-and-home with both of the league’s 2004 Final Four teams — LSU (the permanent travel partner) and Tennessee (our Eastern Division rotating partner for this two-year cycle).

ARKANSAS‘ ESPN ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA NOMINEES: For the first time in school history, the Lady Razorback basketball team has the University maximum three nominees. Redshirt sophomore Sarah Pfeifer, sophomore Kristin Peoples and junior Rochelle Vaughn are the nominees. The requirements for the ESPN Academic All-America team are a 3.20 cumulative GPA, second-year standing at the institution and starter or significant sub. Peoples, Pfeifer and Vaughn more than meet the criteria. All three are starters for the Lady’Backs, with industrial engineering major Pfeifer just edging biology major Peoples. 3.95 to 3.94. And yes, that means they each have exactly one "B" in their Arkansas careers. Vaughn turns in a 3.46 in communications, but is on an accelerated track with 109 of her 124 hours completed by the end of her junior year. By the way, Peoples and Pfeifer aren’t the average sophomores. In just three full semesters at Arkansas, Peoples has 83 hours in the degree bank (67% completion) while Pfeifer has 86 hours in her five semesters (70% completion). While three players is the school max, Arkansas had a fourth player with qualifying numbers — senior back-up guard April Seggebruch’s 3.77 in business marketing. Only one other time in school history has Arkansas nominated more than one player for Academic All-America in basketball — Amber Nicholas Shirey and Sally Moore were both nominees in the 1990-91. Shirey was first-team all-district, and went on to all-America honors while Moore as second team all-district. The ESPN Academic All-America team — formerly known as the GTE (then Verizon)/CoSIDA Academic All-America team — is the longest running, most prestigious and only Academic All-America team (CoSIDA holds that copyright).

MISCELLANEOUS TEAM NOTES

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Fayetteville, Ark., ranks as the 14th toughest road trip in Division I women’s basketball according to Louisiana Tech’s annual survey of home court winning percentage. Arkansas has a 79.94% winning mark in Fayetteville, and is the third toughest home court in the Southeastern Conference. Ruston, La., is No. 1 at 94.51%, followed by Knoxville, Tenn., at 91.37%. Oxford, Miss., is ranked 11th, and second in the SEC. Notable tough towns behind Fayetteville: Athens, Ga. (22nd), Springfield, Mo. (28th),

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE — STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE TOP 20: Arkansas‘ schedule gets the #19 spot on the preseason RPI strength of schedule issued by Rich Summerville and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Summerville’s RPI — considered for years one of the most accurate predictors of the NCAA committee’s own rating percentage index — has Arkansas at 19th thanks in part to the Lady’Backs facing the No. 1 RPI Tennessee Lady Vols and the #7 RPI LSU Tigers twice this season. In fact, half of the SEC is in the top 25: 1) UT, 5) Florida, 7) LSU, 9) Auburn, 18) Miss State, 19) Arkansas, 25) Alabama. Rounding out the league: 31) Vanderbilt, 37) Georgia, 39) Ole Miss, 48) South Carolina, 54) Kentucky.

PRESEASON SEC POLL HAS ARKANSAS TIED FOR NINTH: The Lady Razorbacks were voted ninth in the preseason media poll conducted at the annual SEC Media Days. There were 11 media voters that gave both Arkansas and Alabama 101 points each in the balloting. Tennessee was the near-consensus pick at No. 1 with nine first place votes and 13 overall. LSU had the other two first place votes and 23. Vanderbilt was third, Georgia fourth, Auburn fifth and Florida sixth. Ole Miss and Miss State tied for seventh at 80 each. Kentucky and South Carolina rounded out the poll.

IT’S ON LADYBACKS.COM: Video highlights from each pre-game press conference, after each game at Walton Arena and clips from the coaches’ luncheons can be viewed daily at LADYBACKS.COM. The premium video content is free during this first season of the new and improved LADYBACKS.COM for our ALL-ACCESS subscribers. We encourage media to sign up for the ALL-ACCESS package and to utilize the posted clips and quotes.

PHOTO PLATFORM ACCESS VIA LADYBACKS.COM: Media needing high resolution images — action and mug shots — of Lady Razorback athletes can download them via LADYBACKS.COM. Please contact Bill Smith or any member of the Women’s Communication Office for instructions on how to access the high resolution (1.5 – 2.0 mb) versions of all website images.

LADY RAZORBACK TV: The Women’s Athletics Department begins its second season with a department-wide television magazine hosted by the Lady Razorback head coaches. The show airs across the state at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Lady Razorback TV airs in northwest Arkansas on KPBI, Fox 46-15, and in Little Rock on KWPF, the WB television affiliate. The show re-airs on Sunday mornings in northwest Arkansas on KFDF, UPN, at 11:00 a.m and in central Arkansas on KYPX, the Pax television affiliate, a 11:30 p.m. Lady Razorback TV is brought to you by Adidas, Tyson, CRI and the Lady Razorback Foundation.

TURN YOUR RADIO ON: Welcome back to the Lady Razorback Radio Network for the 16th consecutive season. All Arkansas women’s basketball games are broadcast home and road over the statewide LRRN, as well as on the internet via LADYBACKS.COM. Making his debut this season as the play-by-play voice of the Lady Razorbacks is Preston Lewis. Returning for his 16th year of color for the Lady’Backs is Bill Smith.

KBNV 90.1 FM Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers/Bentonville

KXUA 88.3 FM UA student radio/Fayetteville

KABZ 103.7 FM Little Rock/Central Arkansas

KHOZ 900 AM Harrison

Check your local affiliate for updates on start times or occasional tape delays for local programing.