Women’s Basketball — No. 21 Arkansas runs away from Lady Demons

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – A hot start faded quickly for Northwestern State as No. 21 Arkansas ran away with Sunday afternoon’s game 99-39 at Bud Walton Arena.

In a blistering opening to the ball game, where the Razorbacks (10-1) jumped out to an 8-0 lead through the first two minutes of play, the Lady Demons (3-5) responded quickly.

NSU came right back with an 8-0 run of their own on back-to-back 3-balls from Kira Bonner and Jasmyn Johnson, knotting the game at 8 just a minute later.

The teams traded 3’s on their next possessions, with Bonner drilling another, and after a pair of free throws put the Hogs back up, Bonner tied the game at 13 on a layup with 5:05 left in the first.

The game changed after the ensuing media timeout.

The Razorbacks began a 24-0 run that would ultimately put the game away before the end of the first half. One of the best scoring and 3-point shooting teams in the country, Arkansas sprinted to the big lead on the heels of a massive Lady Demons offensive drought.

NSU went more than 10 minutes of game time between Bonner’s layup in the first and a Victoria Miller jumper at the 4:48 mark of the second. During that stretch the Hogs went 10-of-17 from the floor including starting the second quarter making their first five shots.

Arkansas came back to Earth the rest of the quarter, going 3-for-6 the rest of the half, but an 18 percent shooting effort for the Lady Demons could not cut into the 49-22 halftime lead.

“I can live with defeat if you fight and compete and are doing everything that you can possibly do,” fourth-year head coach Jordan Dupuy said. “We didn’t do that today and that’s what is really frustrating, especially a couple days away from conference play.”

Arkansas picked up where they left off in the third quarter with an absurd 76 percent shooting effort to start the second half.

They scored 35 points and extended the lead to 84-30 by the end of the period. The 10-for-11 start to the third quarter all but secured the win for the Razorbacks by the end of the frame.

Kalen Green provided a pair of mild sparks in the period with a 3-pointer at the midway point and a fast break layup with 3:08 remaining, the only two field goals for the Lady Demons in the quarter.

Green reached double figures for the third time this season, matching Bonner’s 10 points as NSU’s top scorers.

With a quick turnaround before the beginning of Southland Conference action, the Lady Demons look to move past a tough loss to a quality opponent quickly.

“If you have anything about you as a competitor, then this should fuel you to hurry up and get the taste out of your mouth and start preparing for the next one,” Dupuy said. “We’ll address what we need to on the ride back and start looking at Sam Houston right away. We have to understand that there is so much that we have to get ready for and it starts with our heart and effort.”

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