Preview – WBB Primed for SEC Tournament Quarterfinals vs. South Carolina

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (21-11) survived and advanced in their SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament opening game on Thursday, and the Razorbacks are now set up to play top-seeded, No. 1/1 South Carolina (29-0) on Friday morning. This quarterfinal matchup is a rematch from last season’s SEC Tournament Quarterfinal game, and a huge opportunity for the Razorbacks, as Arkansas sits on the bubble of making the NCAA Tournament. The game is set for an 11 a.m. tipoff from the Bon Secours Wellness Center on SEC Network.

GAME INFORMATION

Date: Friday, March 3
Time: 11 a.m. CT
Opponent: No. 1/1 South Carolina
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Center
Watch: SECN
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
South Carolina Game Notes
Live Stats
SEC Championship Central

STORYLINES

• Arkansas survived and advanced vs. Missouri in the opening round of the SEC Tournament, taking down the Tigers, 85-74
• Thursday’s win at the tournament marked the eighth SEC Tournament victory in six years for Mike Neighbors at Arkansas. Prior to Coach Neighbors, the most tournament wins a coach had at Arkansas was eight by Gary Blair
• Arkansas’ win over Missouri was big for the Razorbacks who currently sit in the bubble of making the NCAA Tournament
• Like déjà vu of last season’s SEC Tournament, Arkansas is set to play No. 1 South Carolina in the quarterfinals on Thursday. In last season’s quarterfinal game, the Razorbacks lost to the Gamecocks, 76-54
• Arkansas is looking to turn the page from last January’s matchup at South Carolina, in which Arkansas lost 92-46, while being outrebounded 74-17
• A win over South Carolina would be the first ever win over a No. 1 team in the country for the program
• Arkansas is 18-25 against South Carolina, dropping the last seven to the Gamecocks. The Razorbacks’ last win over the Gamecocks came here in Greenville at the 2019 SEC Tournament, where Arkansas pulled off the 95-89 upset
• SEC All-Conference awards were announced. Erynn Barnum earned a spot on the SEC Second Team, while Saylor Poffenbarger was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team
• The team logged the program’s 22nd 20-win season, third under head coach Mike Neighbors after beating Texas A&M, 78-65
• Arkansas started the season 13-0 and finished the non-conference slate at 13-2, with its win total leading the country for majority of the non-conference season
• Barnum leads the team in scoring with 15.9 points. Her .574 field goal percentage leads the SEC, as it has majority of the season. She surpassed 1,000 points in her career and became the 18th Razorback to join the 1,000 points/500 rebound club last month
• Barnum is one of 10 candidates for the Katrina McClain Award, given to the best power forward in the country
• Samara Spencer is the second leading scorer with 14.1 points per game and leads the team in assists with 137. Her 4.3 assists per game is the fifth most in the SEC
• Makayla Daniels leads the team in steals with 53 and averages 13.1 points per game
• Daniels keeps moving up in career top 10-20 lists, sitting No. 13 in points (1,393), No. 4 in career starts (117), No. 9 in career 3-pointers (165) and No. 14 in career assists (305)
• Chrissy Carr logs 12.1 points per game and leads the squad with 77 3-pointers
• Poffenbarger leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 per game and has 36 blocks. She has 189 defensive rebounds and needs two more to earn the individual season defensive rebound record
• The team is second in least turnovers committed per game in the SEC with 13.7 per game
• Arkansas gets to the line 23.7 times per game, which is second in the conference and sixth in the country. The Razorbacks’ 15.8 makes from the free throw line per game is third in the SEC and 13th in the NCAA
• The team leads the SEC in 3-point attempts per game (26.9), which is 11th in the country, and No. 2 in 3-pointers per game (8.2) in the league

 SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA

• No other team in the nation is better than South Carolina, who has held the No. 1 spot in the AP and WBCA Coaches polls the entire season
• The Gamecocks are 29-0 and finished with a perfect 16-0 mark in SEC play
• Zia Cooke leads the Gamecocks with 15.5 points per game
• Aliyah Boston paces the team with 9.7 rebounds per game, while Kamila Cardoso pulls down 8.9 per game
• Freshman Raven Johnson leads the way with 90 assists
• South Carolina was an unanimous No. 1 in the SEC Preseason Coaches and Media polls
• Boston was named SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season
• Cooke earned a spot on the All-SEC First Team, while Cardoso was tabbed as the SEC Sixth Player of the Year and an All-SEC Second Team choice
• Brea Beal and Boston were named to the All-Defensive Team, while Johnson was an SEC All-Freshman Team choice
• Dawn Staley was also recognized as SEC Coach of the Year, the sixth of her career
• Staley also boasts two national championships, seven SEC regular season championships and eight NCAA attendance records, among other accolades

HISTORY AGAINST THE GAMECOCKS

• Arkansas is 18-25 against South Carolina in the all-time series
• Going into Friday, Arkansas has lost seven straight to the Gamecocks
• The last win over the South Carolina came at the 2019 SEC Tournament, in which the Razorbacks made their big run. Arkansas won 95-89 in Greenville that year
• The Razorbacks also faced South Carolina in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals last season, resulting in a 76-54 loss. Arkansas lost 92-46 in Columbia, while being outrebounded, 74-17. Spencer logged 15 points, while Barnum registered 11 points in the game

LAST TIME OUT

• Arkansas pulled out an 85-74 victory over Missouri in their opening round in the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks were down by 11 with less than a minute left in the third quarter, but Arkansas went on a 16-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory
• The Razorbacks’ win marks 10 straight over the Tigers
• Carr was on fire, tallying a career-high 34 points off an efficient 11-of-14 from the field, 6-of-8 from 3-point. That marked 34 points for #34
• Spencer logged 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks
• Daniels fought hard in the second half with 17 points, three 3-pointers and 8-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. She also had three assists and two steals
• Poffenbarger pulled down 11 rebounds and had six points, five assists and one block
• Rylee Langerman came up with a big 3-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter and also had four rebounds and two steals and Maryam Dauda had five offensive boards
• The Razorbacks knocked down 12 3-pointers

UPCOMING

The winner of this quarterfinal matchup will play the winner of No. 4 seed Ole Miss vs. No. 13 seed Texas A&M on Saturday, March 4 at 3:30 p.m. Coverage of that game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Arkansas Women’s Basketball, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @RazorbackWBB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/RazorbackWBB. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, “Kickin’ It In The Neighborhood” for an inside look at the Razorback women’s basketball program and check out The Neighborhood podcasts at CoachNeighbors.com.