FAYETTEVILLE — Taliah Scott has been tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week for the fifth time in the last six weeks, which ties a school record for the most weekly freshman honors in Arkansas women’s basketball history. After leading the Hogs to a 2-0 week in her home state at the West Palm Beach Classic, Scott’s fifth SEC Freshman of the Week award ties teammate Saylor Poffenbarger and C’eira Ricketts (2008-12).
Scott was one of six players named to the West Palm Beach All-Tournament Team, having averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game across two contests. Scott tied a game-high 17 points off 7-of-15 shooting from the field against preseason ranked Illinois in the buzzer-beater win, 60-59. She played nearly 38 minutes in the game, while drawing five fouls.
The Orange Park, Florida native followed up her performance against the Fighting Illini with a game-high 26 points versus UIC in the 66-58 victory. Scott nailed a career-high six 3-pointers and matched a career-high six rebounds, while adding two assists and not committing any turnovers. She played all 40 minutes against the Flames and was +8 in +/-, which led all players on the statsheet. Scott was big for the Hogs defensively in Florida, taking a pair of charges during the week and coming up with big stops in critical moments of both games to help Arkansas go 2-0 against teams from the state of Illinois.
Scott continues to pace the SEC in scoring, as she has since the start of the season, while being the only player in the league to average 20.0+ points per game. Nationally, Scott is second in total points (321), third in free throw makes (70), free throw attempts (86), field goal attempts (252) and 3-point attempts (112), as well as sixth in points per game (22.9). Scott has become the fastest freshman in Arkansas women’s basketball history to reach 321 points through their first 14 collegiate games.
The Hogs will have one more non-conference game before SEC play kicks off, as the Hogs host Incarnate Word on Sunday, Dec. 31 for a 1 p.m. tipoff at Bud Walton Arena. The game will be broadcast on SECN+.
