FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Arkansas women’s basketball team (6-1) dropped its first game of the season, as Marquette (6-0) defeated the Hogs, 74-58, in wire-to-wire fashion in the Elevance Health Fort Myers Tip-off Shell Division Championship game. Arkansas got off to an incredibly slow start, shooting 1-of-13 to begin the game, while not being able to get into a rhythm offensively to match Marquette’s shot over 50 percent from the field through the first half and outrebounded the Hogs 41-32 in the game. Taliah Scott led the Hogs with 21 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Makayla Daniels earned a spot on the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-off All-Tournament Team, while breaking the school record for career starts with her 129th nod on Saturday.
Marquette scored the first six points of the game off jumpers, while Arkansas started 0-for-3 from the field. Mike Neighbors called a timeout just 1:49 into the game to regroup, as the Hogs trailed 6-0 early. Arkansas continued to search for its first basket, but could not get one, as the Hogs would then trail, 10-0. Samara Spencer then hit a triple on the Hogs’ seventh shot attempt with 5:58 left in the first quarter. After that triple, the Hogs fell in another scoring drought, this time three minutes, which had Arkansas down, 17-3. Carly Keats nailed a triple, but the Golden Eagles answered with a jumper. Daniels knocked down a triple at the buzzer, behind 23-11 after one quarter.
Scott helped the Hogs make its third straight field goal to open the second quarter with a layup, but Marquette answered with a 6-0 run, as the Hogs were down by 16 with 7:17 left in the first half. Saylor Poffenbarger showed her offensive and defensive ability, coming up with a monster block, and then knocking down a 3-pointer, which was a part of a 5-0 run for the Hogs. The Golden Eagles then had a 4-0 run of their own, but Poffenbarger responded with her second triple of the game. The Hogs trailed 33-21 with 4:25 left in the quarter. Spencer had a tough take to the basket for layup, drawing the foul in the process. The Hogs cut the deficit to 11 once again with that and-1, but Marquette went on a 9-0 run, as Arkansas trailed by 20, 44-24, with less than a minute in the half. Keats drilled her second 3-pointer of the game, eighth for the Hogs. After a Marquette basket, the Hogs had a 19-point deficit at the half, behind 46-27 going into the locker room.
The Hogs could not stop Marquette from finding the basket, as the Golden Eagles made baskets on their first two possessions of the quarter. Poffenbarger nailed a triple and got a layup off a nice Daniels assist, and then after another Hog steal, Arkansas took advantage, as Scott knocked down a triple. Arkansas cut into the lead, as Marquette called a timeout with the Hogs behind 50-35 with 6:38 left in the quarter. Maquette would outscore Arkansas 13-2 in the next four minutes of the quarter, as the Hogs found itself in its biggest deficit, down by 26 with 1:38 left in the third. Keats drilled a 3-pointer to drag the Hogs out of a long drought. At the end of the third, Marquette led, 63-40.
Maquette opened the fourth quarter outscoring the Hogs 9-4 in the opening minutes. Cristina Sánchez Cerqueira earned her first career basket off a great pass by Daniels under the basket. The Hogs trailed 72-46 with 5:55 left in the game.
That basket by Sánchez Cerqueira started a 9-2 run, highlighted by a tough 3-pointer by Scott. The Hogs outscored Marquette 18-11 in the fourth, with Scott tallying 14 of those points. The Hogs, who pressed almost the full fourth quarter, held Marquette scoreless for the final 4:21 of the game. Arkansas dropped the contest, 74-58.
