Razorbacks Return Home To Face Lady Demons
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team returns home for its final three nonconference games, beginning with Northwestern State on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks (9-1), opened the season with nine consecutive wins behind a balanced attack from several different players. Senior Jessica Jackson has scored in double figures in every game this year and leads the team with 16.1 points per contest.
Sophomore Malica Monk has been solid on defense and at running the point while contributing 11.0 ppg in her second season. Sophomores Keiryn Swenson and Briunna Freeman have seen expanded roles and senior Alecia Cooley is second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Junior Devin Cosper is returning to full strength after an injury slowed the start to her season. She dropped in a career-best 18 points on the road in the team’s most recent game. Freshman Jailyn Mason has started every game and contributes 6.5 ppg in her first season while sophomore Bailey Zimmerman and freshman Aaliyah Wilson are logging significant minutes for the Razorbacks.
Northwestern State (5-3) has made NCAA Tournament appearances in two of the last three season, earning a bid to the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Dance. The Lady Demons enter the weekend on a two-game winning streak, having defeated Louisiana-Monroe (67-65) and Jackson State (83-64) in their last two contests.
The Opponent
Arkansas will face Northwestern State for 16th time in school history. The Razorbacks lead the all-time series 12-3, winning each of the last nine meetings dating back to the 1992-93 season, most recently a 78-30 win in Fayetteville during the 2014-15 season.
Arkansas is 45-10 all-time against Southland Conference opponents, including a 30-1 record at home. Arkansas defeated fellow Southland Conference member Sam Houston State, 71-39, in the season opener. Northwestern State, after making back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015 and 2016, went 19-12 overall and 13-5 in league play, finishing in third place in the Southland Conference regular-season standings this past season.
The Lady Demons return four starters from that team that also played in the Women’s Basketball Invitational. They are led by a first-year head coach in Jordan Dupuy, who had spent the previous eight season at Southern Miss, the final three as associate head coach.
Arkansas and Northwestern State share two common opponents. Arkansas has defeated both Louisiana-Monroe (92-46) and Memphis (91-61), while Northwestern State lost to Memphis (54-38) and defeated Louisiana-Monroe (67-65).
Beatrice Attura, a second-team preseason All-Southland selection, leads the team in scoring, averaging 19.0 points per game. Cheyenne Brown, the reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week, scored a career-high 27 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds in the 83-64 win over Jackson State.
Notable
• Arkansas is 25-10 in home games under head coach Jimmy Dykes. That mark includes a 6-0 record this season and a 15-4 record in nonconference home games.
• Arkansas has used the same starting five for each of the 10 games: Malica Monk, Jailyn Mason, Jessica Jackson, Bailey Zimmerman and Alecia Cooley.
• Jessica Jackson has scored in double figures in each of the first 10 games this season. She is averaging a team-best 16.1 points per game, which also ranks seventh in the SEC, and has led the team in scoring in eight of 10 games this season.
• Jessica Jackson ranks third in the SEC in free throw attempts (58) and seventh in the SEC in the free throws made (39).
• Five different players have scored in double figures in the first half of games this season: Jessica Jackson (three times), Malica Monk, Alecia Cooley, Keiryn Swenson, and most recently, Devin Cosper.
• Arkansas ranks eighth in the SEC in field-goal percentage (43.9 percent) and ranks second in the SEC in three-point field-goal percentage (37.8 percent).
• Arkansas ranks fourth in the SEC and 22nd in the nation in rebound margin, outrebounding opponents by 10.9 rebounds per game.
• Arkansas is off to a 9-1 start for the first time under head coach Jimmy Dykes and the first time since the 2013-14 season, when the Razorbacks won each of its first 13 games.
Looking Ahead
Arkansas hosts Oral Roberts on Wednesday, before taking a break for the holidays, and then closes out nonconference play against Houston Baptist on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Arkansas travels to Ole Miss for its SEC opener on New Year’s Day and plays Mississippi State on Jan. 5 in its SEC home opener.
To order tickets for the 2016-17 season, click here or call the Razorback Ticket Center at 800-982-HOGS (4647) or 479-575-5151.
For more information on Arkansas women’s basketball, follow @RazorbackWBB on Twitter.
