Arkansas women face another road test

The Arkansas women's basketball team will continue its trek on the road as the Razorbacks take on undefeated Kansas today at 2 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

It will be fifth game away from Walton Arena for the 5-2 Razorbacks, while the 6-0 Jayhawks have not yet played a road game.

Arkansas women at Kansas

WHEN 2 p.m.

WHERE Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kan.

RECORDS Kansas 6-0; Arkansas 5-2

RADIO Razorback Sports Network

INTERNET ESPN3

"It will be a good challenge for us to get one in Phog Allen Fieldhouse," University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Mike Neighbors said.

Kansas has four junior college transfers on its roster, including 5-5 guard Christalah Lyons, who is averaging 16 points per game. The Razorbacks have leaned on their own junior college transfer Raven Northcross-Baker for some scouting reports, Neighbors said.

"Raven knows them all," Neighbors said. "We've got a practice player that played in that league, too."

Northcross-Baker gave Arkansas a lift off the bench in Wednesday's 79-65 victory over Abilene Christian. She tied for a team-high 15 points as Arkansas placed five players in double figures.

Neighbors compared Kansas to UTEP and Nebraska, two teams that have defeated the Razorbacks this season.

"They are rugged like Nebraska, but they are a lot like UTEP minus the 6-4 kid," Neighbors said. "They have a big kid, but she's not nearly as athletic as the player from UTEP was."

Kansas suffered a blow in preseason when senior guard Jessica Washington, the reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and leading scorer, went down with a season-ending knee injury. Junior Kylee Kopatich, who has started every game but one in her career at Kansas, is averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game.

The Jayhawks, who finished 8-22 a year ago, nearly have matched their win total from last season a month into this season.

Arkansas bucked a recent trend of slow starts in its latest victory over Abilene Christian after Neighbors said he made some subtle changes. Now the Razorbacks will try to see if they can make it two in a row.

"We didn't come in as early," Neighbors said. "We changed the way we did the shoot-around. I changed how many things I wrote up on the board. I think there were a lot of factors.

"I don't think it's ever usually one thing. I think we were getting to the gym too early. I think we were spending too much time there, losing our focus.

"We're all so brand new with each other. That's the fun part about this. Some things work and some things don't. I am willing to listen and change."

Sports on 12/03/2017

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