Poor first half dooms Arkansas women's basketball vs. Tennessee

Christina Long, Fort Smith Times Record
·3 min read

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas women's basketball just couldn't keep up with Tennessee on Thursday at Bud Walton Arena.

The Lady Vols made their first four shots of the game, and the Razorbacks never quite recovered as Tennessee won 87-67. The 20-point loss was Arkansas' third-largest defeat of the season.

Arkansas (19-9, 6-7 SEC) got out to a bad start but showed some fight in the second half. A 20-point halftime deficit was too great, however, and Tennessee (19-9, 11-2) used its superior size and rebounding to stifle any chance of a comeback.

Arkansas' Erynn Barnum tied Tennessee's Rickea Jackson with 25 points to lead all scorers.

"This isn't like volleyball, where you can lose the first set 25 to none, then everybody claps and resets," Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. "That first three minutes can be the difference, and it was tonight. We never could overcome their start."

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Arkansas' first-half struggles

Arkansas' first half was an ugly one. The Lady Vols opened the game with a 14-2 run in less than five minutes. The Razorbacks had no answer for Tennessee's perimeter shooting while struggling to score themselves.

In the first quarter, Tennessee had more made 3-pointers (five) than Arkansas had made field goals (four). The Razorbacks missed their first eight attempts from beyond the arc, with Samara Spencer finally making one at the 6:40 mark in the second quarter.

Tennessee almost held Arkansas to single digits in each of the first two quarters, but a Chrissy Car transition 3-pointer and a Barnum transition layup sent the Razorbacks to the break down 20.

Second-half improvements

Arkansas played a much better second half, shooting 43% from the field. The defense that had let Tennessee shoot 50% in the first half got them to 42% in the second.

The 20-point lead the Lady Vols had built early on remained, however, with the Razorbacks unable to string together stops and compete on the glass.

"There was a point that I thought we could have quit, and we just never really did," Neighbors said. "That's the thing we're going to take from it and be proud and carry into (the next game)."

Lady Vols dominate on the glass

Tennessee entered the game ranked No. 3 in the SEC in rebounds per game (43.3). The Lady Vols far exceeded that average against the Razorbacks, grabbing 59 rebounds to Arkansas' 25.

Barnum averages a team-best 16.4 rebounds per game. Against Tennessee, she had one.

Neighbors knew Arkansas wouldn't be able to outrebound the Lady Vols, and he hoped to counteract the rebounding by limiting the Razorbacks' turnovers. Arkansas succeeded in that, finishing with five givaways. As a result, the Razorbacks' shot total was actually similar to Tennessee's: Arkansas attempted 73 field goals to Tennessee's 69.

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This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Poor first half dooms Arkansas women's basketball vs. Tennessee