FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors jokingly accused forward Kiara Williams of padding her stats Thursday night.
The sophomore had 12 points and 16 rebounds to help lead Arkansas to a 79-62 over Grambling State in Walton Arena.
"Just go get it," Williams said of her aggressive play. "That's always been my mentality: see the ball, go get it and ask questions later."
The 16 rebounds matched a career-high set Dec. 3 at Kansas in a 71-60 loss. Williams' 13 first-half rebounds also provided the Razorbacks (9-4) a 48-35 advantage.
"She has to battle against 6-3 and 6-4 many nights, so her effort on nights when there's not a 6-3 or 6-4 in there she gets rewarded a little bit more," Neighbors said. "A couple of those were her own misses. ... Not very often do we have a size advantage, but I thought tonight we exploited it pretty good."
Four Razorbacks finished in double figures, led by 16 from Devin Cosper. Grambling State (3-8) was Arkansas' first test game an 89-43 loss at Arizona State on Dec. 21 when the Razorbacks shot 30 percent and made only 4-of-18 three-point attempts.
The Razorbacks connected on 11-of-20 three-pointers after three quarters before missing their final four. It was a collective effort, too, as Cosper accounted for four three-pointers, Raven Northcross-Baker added three and Keiryn Swenson and Jailyn Mason hit two apiece.
It marked the fourth time this season Arkansas hit 10 or more three-pointers in a game.
"They spread you out, and [Malica] Monk does a great job attacking the paint trying to sink you in to help on those different drives, which opens up a lot of those shots on the outside," Grambling State Coach Freddy Murray said.
Neighbors said he feels the team has better shooting nights ahead.
"This is normally the time of year when we get our legs underneath us," he said. "Our shot quality has continued to improve. ... I see how we shoot it in practice."
Monk finished with 10 points and 10 assists, bouncing back from a tough start that saw her commit three turnovers in the opening minutes.
"I don't worry about it with Malica," Neighbors said. "I know she's going to settle in. The last thing I'm going to do is try to take her aggressiveness away from her. If I jump on her I think she gets tentative, and I don't ever want to have a tentative guard."
Arkansas held Grambling State to 38 percent shooting and 7-of-27 from beyond the arc. Ariel Williams led the Lady Tigers with 16 points on 6 of 12 from the floor and had 3 assists.
The Razorbacks return to the floor Sunday against Mississippi to open Southeastern Conference play. Tipoff from Walton Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 58, TAMU-CORPUS CHRISTI 50
The University of Central Arkansas women held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi without a field goal for nearly 14 minutes over the second and third quarters, then built a lead as large as 17 points in the fourth quarter in their Southland Conference opener at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Sugar Bears (8-4, 1-0 Southland) limited the Islanders (7-5, 0-1) to a season-low point total on 34 percent shooting.
Taylor Baudoin had 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for the Sugar Bears, while Kierra Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds. UCA’s Kamry Orr made 4 of 5 three-pointers and finished with 15 points. She also had 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, while Taylor Sells had a team-high 4 assists to go with 5 points and 4 rebounds.
SOUTHLAND MEN
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 81,
TAMU-CORPUS CHRISTI 69
Junior guard Thatch Unruh tied a career high and the University of Central Arkansas Bears opened Southland Conference play with a victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Farris Center in Conway.
It was the third time in 12 times since joining the league in 2006-07 that UCA (7-7, 1-0) had won its Southland opener. Unruh scored 20 points to lead three Bears in double figures. Senior Jordan Howard chipped in 18 points, and senior Mathieu Kamba added 13 points and 6 rebounds. Freshman center Hayden Koval had four of his seven blocked shots in the opening half, tying the school single-game record for the second time this season with 7 blocks.
The Bears enjoyed as much as a 16-point lead in the first half before leading 41-31 margin at the break.
The Islanders (3-8, 0-1) got within five points at 49-44 at the 14:34 mark. Senior Joseph Kilgore led the Islanders with 23 points. Freshman Sean Rhea added 16 points, hitting 8 of 10 freethrow attempts.
Sports on 12/29/2017