PREVIEW: Arkansas Women Host LSU and Kim Mulkey

Kim Mulkey comes in to Bud Walton arena for the second straight year, but this time she will be the head coach of the No. 12 LSU Tigers. Last year at Baylor, Kim Mulkey brought her team into Fayetteville for the BIG 12 / SEC Challenge where Arkansas was victorious 83-78. This year LSU comes into tomorrow’s game 4th in the SEC with a 17-3 (5-2) record after a one point loss to Florida on the 23rd. The Tigers are led by sharp shooter Khayla Pointer who averages 19 points 6 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Pointer had 35 points in the loss to Florida. Two other players to keep an eye on are 5th year Senior Alexis Morris and Grad Student Faustine Aifuwa. Morris is averaging 14.3 points per game and Faustine averages 10.4 points per game. Coach Neighbors eluded to the fact that this team is veteran roster and Coach Mulkey has brought her same style of play over from Baylor. The Tigers don’t shoot the three a lot but they are very effective at the mid range jumpers and thats something you

Arkansas is coming into tomorrow night game on a two game win streak with wins over Alabama and Mississippi State. Samara Spencer had a big game against Mississippi State scoring 19 points. Spencer for her efforts was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this season and also a much needed effort from Erynn Barnum who is a week ahead of schedule coming off of her injury will be a big help tomorrow night against LSU. The Razorbacks were able to have four players scoring in double figures and Neighbors said that with the team being in their second week back from break and this team is back in the grove of things. Another key aspect of this two game stretch with Tennessee coming up on Monday is the matchups and with the game against LSU having Spencer being productive allows Makayla off the ball and gives her a much needed break in games where they might have to each play 30+ minutes in the game.

Thursday night game with LSU could give Arkansas that boost they need to really have a great second half of the season and with how tough the league is there could possibly be ten teams that get NCAA Tournament bids. This is about the time Coach Neighbors really looks at his teams net rankings and what day the team might end up playing in the SEC Women’s Tournament. Having LSU at home in front of a huge crowd is a big advantage for Arkansas and they have shown that they can take down top 10 opponents in Fayetteville .