Razorbacks down Missouri Southern

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team picked up an 80-58 exhibition game win over Missouri Southern in Bud Walton Arena Wednesday. Junior Lynsday Harris led all scorers with 16 points followed by 15 from junior C’eira Ricketts and 12 from sophomore Sarah Watkins. Freshman Keira Peak had 10 rebounds in the win.“It was exciting to get out and play against another opponent,” Harris said after the win. I thought we played good transition ball and pushed it up the court well tonight.”“Our defense was good tonight,” added Ricketts. “We were able to keep them on their heels.”Arkansas opened the game with a bucket from Ricketts but Missouri Southern answered and close battle would ensue. The Razorbacks had a seven-point lead, 21-14, but MSSU closed to 21-18 on a layup by their leading scorer Jasmine Lovejoy. She finished with 14 for the Lions.The basket sparked something in Arkansas and the Razorbacks closed the first half with a 14-3 run taking a 35-21 lead into halftime.Harris had 16 at the half leading all scorers. Arkansas won the defensive war leading 23-13 over the Lions in the first frame.The second half began with another solid and sustained effort by Arkansas as they stretched the lead to as many as 24 points before the 22-point win.“I’m happy to get out to a good start with the win,” Arkansas head coach Tom Collen said. “We had some sloppy moments and some things we need to work on but overall I’m pleased with the effort.”Be it first-game jitters or the newness of the system, Arkansas committed 22 turnovers. Something Collen recognized as needing improvement.“We have to take better care of the basketball,” he said. “We can’t have those types of turnovers as our competition continues to get better.”Arkansas finished the game shooting 46.6 percent on a 27-for-58 night. The Razorbacks were 23-for-34 from the line for nearly 68 percent and hit three three-pointers, all from Harris. The Razorbacks out-rebounded the Lions 47-27 for the game.Arkansas has nine days until the season opener and a little work to do before then.“We want to get back in the gym and work hard on a lot of things including defense,” said Ricketts. “We want to work and improve our transition offense and just keep getting better.”The Razorbacks officially open the 2010-11 season Nov. 12, hosting Florida A&M in an 11:30 a.m. contest that serves as the team’s Elementary Day promotion.

Download: Exh-MoSouthern.pdf