No. 23 Arkansas women's basketball suffers 'demoralizing' loss to No. 9 LSU in SEC opener
FAYETTEVILLE — No. 23 Arkansas women’s basketball opened SEC play Thursday against No. 9 LSU. It was the Razorbacks' fourth game against a Top-25 team this season, and it ended up being their second Top-25 loss.
LSU dominated Arkansas 69-45 at Bud Walton Arena, extending the Razorbacks' losing streak to three games.
The Razorbacks (13-3, 0-1 SEC) had their worst shooting performance of the season, making just 28% from the field. But they also held LSU (13-0, 1-0) to its lowest field goal percentage of the season, 34%.
"Offensively, we really struggled to find good shots," Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. "I thought that carried over to some of our early defensive mistakes. Once we got some of the defensive stuff solved, we never did crack the offensive code to get the shots that we needed."
MEN'S HOOPS:LSU basketball pulls off big upset, beating No. 9 Arkansas
RAZORBACK FOOTBALL:How Arkansas football's freshmen came up big in Liberty Bowl win over Kansas
LSU dominates on the glass
LSU entered the game as the nation's third-best rebounding team, averaging 18.5 boards per game. The Tigers continued their dominance on the glass against Arkansas, outrebounding the Razorbacks 62-30.
Forward Angel Reese, the nation's leader in rebounds per game (14.7), had 19. She was one of three Tigers with double-digit rebounds.
The Razorback defense held LSU to its worst field-goal percentage of the season, 34%. But all those misses allowed the Tigers to do damage on the offensive glass. They had 23 offensive rebounds. More than 20 of the Tigers' points came on second chances.
"They are a rebounding team; that is what they emphasize," Neighbors said. "They demoralize you (when you) guard them and they just take it back in on you."
Offensive struggles doom Razorbacks
In addition to its season-low field goal percentage, Arkansas scored its fewest points of the year. Guard Samara Spencer had 17 on 7-for-15 shooting, but it wasn't enough to make up for the poor team shooting. The Razorbacks shot 23% from beyond the arc, well below their season average of 31.7%.
Arkansas managed just 12 free-throw attempts to LSU's 29. When they did get to the line, the Razorbacks couldn't hit shots: They finished 5-for-12 on free throws.
"It's demoralizing," Neighbors said of the offensive issues. "They're open shots. They're shots we made today in shootaround, and they're shots they made yesterday in practice."
Up next
Arkansas' next game will be on the road at Kentucky on Saturday (1 p.m. CT, SECN+).
Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks for the Southwest Times Record and USA TODAY Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email her at clong@swtimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Poor offense dooms No. 23 Arkansas women’s basketball against No. 9 LSU
