FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas women’s basketball team (13-4, 1-1 SEC) pushed Thursday’s loss to the side, as the Hogs cruised past Georgia (10-5, 1-1 SEC) in wire-to-wire fashion, 83-43. The 40-point victory in Arkansas’ first SEC win of the season marked the third largest margin in an SEC game in school history, while also tying a season best margin of victory. The 83 points the Hogs put up marked the most points the Bulldogs have given up in a game this season. Four Hogs finished in double figures in scoring, led by Makayla Daniels’ season-high 24 points. The Hogs were also hot from beyond the arc, matching a season-high 14 triples, while holding Georgia to 27 percent shooting from the field.
Arkansas went 0-for-2 to start the game, but Carly Keats found an open Makayla Daniels, who drained the Hogs’ first of 14 3-pointers of the game. Daniels then came up with an and-1 to help the Hogs go up, 5-0, to start the game. Daniels then splashed in her second triple of the game, but Georgia had a response with a contested jumper. Maryam Dauda got her first score of the game with a layup off a miss and Keats came up with a rim runner. At the media timeout taken at the 4:26 mark, Arkansas led, 13-6. Out of the break, Dauda was 4-of-4 from the free throw line, which started an 8-0 run. A Keats jumper pulled the Hogs ahead by 10, 19-6, as Georgia took a timeout with three minutes left to play in the frame. Georgia responded out of the break with a 3-pointer, but Daniels had an answer with her third triple of the game. The Hogs led, 24-9, at the end of the first quarter, ending that first frame shooting 7-of-7 from the free throw line and committing zero turnovers.
The Hogs kept being aggressive to the basket and opened the quarter knocking down 5-of-6 free throws to extend their lead to 20, despite shooting 0-of-7 from the field to begin the quarter. The Bulldogs were held empty from the field for the first four minutes and some change of the quarter until Georgia knocked down a few jumpers, but Keats responded each time with a pair of triples, as Georgia took a timeout with Hogs ahead, 35-13, with 5:08 left in the frame. The Bulldogs came up with a basket, but Daniels answered with a hard-fought layup and then knocked down two freebies. With 3:43 left in the quarter, Arkansas led, 39-15. Arkansas played nearly 17 minutes before committing its first turnover. Georgia knocked down its second triple, but Samara Spencer delivered a basket and got fouled in the process for a 3-point play to start an 8-0 run, which was also highlighted by a Saylor Poffenbarger triple. Another Spencer layup put the Hogs ahead by 31, and the Hogs went into the locker room with the 49-18 advantage.
