SPRINGDALE -- Pacious McDaniel showed again Tuesday why she is one of the top scorers in Springdale Har-Ber school history.
McDaniel poured in 28 points to lead the Lady Wildcats to a 66-51 victory over Bentonville in the 6A-West Conference opener for both teams at Wildcat Arena.
Caylan Koons added 21 points for Har-Ber (9-4, 1-0 6A-West), which trailed only briefly early in the first quarter.
McDaniel was presented with a game ball for scoring her 1,000th point on Dec. 11 against Strafford, Mo. The junior two-time all-state player kept adding to her total and she'll have 1,133 career points when Har-Ber takes the court against Rogers Heritage on Friday.
"It's nice to finally have a home court to recognize Pacious for what she did in our fifth game of the season," Har-Ber coach Kimberly Jenkins said. "She's definitely not done getting better."
Koons had 13 of her 21 points in the first half to help Har-Ber to a 31-27 lead. McDaniel took over the scoring load after opening the third quarter with a three-pointer. She finished the quarter with a driving layup then opened the fourth quarter with consecutive baskets to push the Har-Ber lead to 52-44. Minutes later, McDaniel rebounded her own miss and scored on a putback to give Har-Ber a commanding 58-45 lead with under five minutes to play.
McDaniel was happy with being recognized for reaching a scoring milestone. But she was pleased even more for the victory over Bentonville, one of the top programs in Class 6A.
"This is the first time since I've been playing that we beat Bentonville High School," McDaniel said. "We battled and played really hard on defense and that's why we won the game."
Ella Campbell had 17 points and Jada Brown scored 14 to lead Bentonville (8-5, 0-1).
Bentonville, which struggled in the first quarter with missed shots and turnovers, used rebounding and some impressive ball movement during an 8-0 run to get to within 22-21. The flurry was led by Sam Ruda, who had six points during the surge. Abbey Kate Sanders contributed a rebound basket before Har-Ber answered with consecutive three-pointers from each corner by sophomore Kennedy Hooper.
The Lady Wildcats continued their hot shooting when McDaniel opened the third quarter with another three-pointer.
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