WBB Preview: Arkansas at Missouri State

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Arkansas women’s basketball (8-3) is seeking its first true road when of the season when it faces Missouri State (7-3) inside Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Mike McClure (play-by-play) and Carly Stubblefield (analyst) on the call.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Arkansas and Missouri State will meet for the 30th time on Saturday. The two teams last met in 2016 in Springfield, where the Bears won 64-62. Missouri State has won the last two meetings. Record against: 21-8 In Fayetteville: 12-4 In Springfield: 9-4 Postseason: 1-0

LAST TIME OUT

Arkansas snapped its two-game losing streak with a 77-46 win over Jackson State on Sunday, Dec. 7. The Hogs were led by freshman Harmonie Ware’s 24 points. Ware went a perfect 9-9 from the field, the first Razorback since 2007 to shoot 100% with at least nine attempts and has the most points without a miss in program history. Freshman Bonnie Deas finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double and sixth double-digit rebounding game this season. Arkansas’ defense held Jackson State to 2 points in the first quarter, the fewest by an opponent since 2020. Jackson State’s 46 points were the fewest by an opponent this season.

ON THE BEARS

Missouri State women’s basketball continues its four-game home stand as the Lady Bears welcome Arkansas to Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday afternoon (1:00 p.m.). MoState is coming off its first home loss of the season, a 73-70 overtime defeat to Kansas last Sunday. Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, MSU has compiled a 99-15 record inside Great Southern Bank Arena, while boasting a 78-9 record since the start of the 2019-20 season. Under Beth Cunningham, the Lady Bears are 42-7 at home. Kaemyn Bekemeier leads the way for the Lady Bears this season, averaging 16.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She leads the team with 16 triples and is shooting .815 from the free throw line (53-65). The guard ranks 1st i

MUSIC CITY CLASSIC

The Hogs picked up a pair of wins at last week’s Music City Classic in Nasvhille, Tennessee. Arkansas led wire-to-wire against Drake for a 79-71 win, and came back from down 12 points to defeat Southern Illinois, 73-63. Arkansas guard Taleyah Jones was named the event’s MVP after scoring 38 points over the two games (15 & 23). The Music City Classic was the Razorbacks’ only multi-team event this season.

MVP

Taleyah Jones is Arkansas’ leading scorer through nine games with 17.3 points per game, good enough for top 10 in the SEC and top 100 nationally. Jones has collected eight 10-plus point games and three 20-plus point games this season. She’s led the Hogs in scoring in each of the last six games and was named MVP at last week’s Music City Classic. Jones transferred to Arkansas after playing two seasons at Oral Roberts under Musick, where she received First and Second Team All-Summit League honors and was named the league’s newcomer of the year in 2024.

A FEW FIRSTS

Kelsi Musick is Arkansas women’s basketball’s first female head coach since Susie Gardner led the Razorbacks from 2003-2007. Hometown firsts: Danika Galea is the first Maltin player in Razorback history. Aisha Hassan is the first Egyptian player in Razorback history. Ashlynn Chlarson is the first Arizonan in Razorback history.

50 SEASONS

Arkansas women’s basketball will celebrate its 50th season in 2025-26. The program was founded in 1976 and has accumulated 891 wins since its first game against North Arkansas CC on Nov. 19, 1976. The Razorbacks’ first win came on Dec. 1, 1976 against John Brown, 92-87.

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE

Freshman guard Bonnie Deas made quite the impression following the first week of the college basketball season. Deas averaged 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, the most by a freshman in the country through the first three games. Deas picked up recognition from the SEC, earning freshman of the week honors. Deas picked up recognition from the SEC, earning freshman of the week honors. Though her numbers have decreased through 11 games, she is the only freshman and one of four guards (all classes) in the country to average at least 12 points and 9.5 rebounds. Deas’ 9.9 rebounds per game ranks fifth in the SEC and tied for 30th nationally. Her 109 total rebounds ranks third in the SEC and fifth nationally. This summer, she led her country to a silver medal in the FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup. Deas averaged 12.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3 assists in 6 games at the World Cup and earned All-Star Five team honors alongside USA’s Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 class, and UCLA’s Sienna Betts. Deas was Australia’s leading scorer in the championship game with 13 points in an 88-76 loss to the United States.

THE NEWCOMERS

The Razorbacks added eight newcomers to the 2025-26 roster: 5 transfers and 3 freshmen. Maria Anais Rodriguez joined Arkansas from Oklahoma State, where she saw action in 10 games during her first season, including three Big 12 games against Colorado, UCF and Arizona. On the FIBA side, she helped Spain to a 6-1 mark and the Silver Medal at the FIBA U18 Women’s Eurobasket competition in 2024 and averaged 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists during the event.

Taleyah Jones followed Coach Musick to Arkansas after playing for her during her sophomore and junior seasons. Jones was the Summit League Newcomer of the Year in 2024 and a First Team All-Summit League selection in 2025. Last season, she led ORU’s offense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring average (83.2) with 18.1 points per game.

Wyvette Mayberry signed with Arkansas on April 3, 2025, the first signee of the Musick era. Mayberry started her career at Tulsa before transferring to Kansas after two seasons. At Tulsa, she was named to the AAC All-Freshman team and led the Golden Hurricane in scoring her sophomore season with 14.1 points per game. At Kansas, she started in 31 games her junior season and recorded four 20+ point games. She started in all 32 games during her senior year and averaged 9.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. She injured her knee during her fifth year and came to Arkansas to finish her career.

Ashlynn Chlarson is the only JUCO product on this year’s team and joined Arkansas from Eastern Arizona CC in Thatcher, Arizona. In her two seasons with the Monsters, she averaged 8.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game. Last season, she nearly averaged a double-double, with 10.9 points/game and 9.2 rebounds/game. She earned first team all-conference, second team all-region and NJCAA All-Tournament Team honors in 2025.

Emily Robinson also made the move from Oral Roberts after a successful start to her career. She was named the 2024 Summit League Freshman of the Year after averaging 10.3 points/game, 3.7 rebounds/game and 2.5 assists/game. She was the only freshman in the league to average double figures. She started in all 33 games her sophomore season and averaged 10.0 points/game and led ORU with 3.4 assists/game. She scored 17 points in the Summit League Tournament championship game against No. 24 South Dakota State.

Harmonie Ware, Aisha Hassan and Bonnie Deas were part of the 2025 signing class that Coach Musick managed to keep following her hiring in March.

THE FIBA FOUR

Four Razorbacks represent their countries at this summer’s FIBA events. Bonnie Deas (Australia) led her country to a silver medal in the FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup. Deas averaged 12.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3 assists in 6 games at the World Cup and earned All-Star Five team honors alongside USA’s Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 class, and UCLA’s Sienna Betts. Deas was Australia’s leading scorer in the championship game with 13 points in an 88-76 loss to the United States. Cristina Sanchez Cerqueira represented Spain in the U-20 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket and won gold. Maria Anais Rodriguez also represented Spain at the U-19 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket and earned a bronze medal. Danika Galea played for Malta in the FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup and won a silver medal in the qualifier in Prishtina, Kosovo.

NEW STAFF

Joining Musick for her first season in Fayetteville are new assistant coaches Brad Johnson and Alex Furr. Johnson made the short trip from nearby Farmington, Arkansas, where he was the head coach of the highly successful Farmington High School girls program, the home of Jenna Lawrence. Overall, Johnson finished his high school coaching career with 419 wins, four state titles, eight conference titles and seven state finals appearances. Furr joins the staff from SMU, where she served as an assistant coach and director of player development for two seasons. Furr played at Fresno State from 2010-2014 and ranks in the all-time top 10 in 3-pointers made and career free throw percentage. Other new staff include Director of On-Court Development Greg Gilman and Video Coordinator Carter Mumm. Assistants Lacey Goldwire and Nick Bradford and longtime Director of Operations Amber Shirey remain on staff.

UP NEXT

The Hogs will host Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday, Dec. 17 inside Bud Walton Arena.

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