Preview – Women’s Basketball Returns to North Little Rock to Play Samford

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (8-3) makes its return to Simmons Bank Arena after a one-year hiatus to host Samford on Saturday afternoon. The women’s team has the frontend of the doubleheader with a 12:30 p.m. tipoff. The game will be streamed on SECN+.

GAME INFORMATION

Dates: Saturday, Dec. 16
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Opponent: Samford
Location: Simmons Bank Arena (North Little Rock, Ark.)
Buy Tickets: HERE
Watch: SECN+
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
Samford Game Notes
Live Stats

STORYLINES

• The Hogs are 8-3 through 11 non-conference games with four left to play before SEC season
• Arkansas is coming off a tough loss, while being upset by in-state opponent UAPB, 74-70. The Hogs led for over 23 minutes of the game, but could not close things out, being outscored by the Golden Lions 42-28 in the second half
• The Hogs will look to put Sunday’s game behind them, as Arkansas hosts Samford at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock on Saturday. The women’s game will serve as the first game of the women’s and men’s doubleheader
• After not playing this game in Little Rock last year, Arkansas is back at Simmons Bank for the first time since Dec. 18, 2021, when the Hogs took down Central Arkansas, 84-44
• Arkansas is 9-5, 7-1 in regular season contests at Simmons Bank Arena. The Hogs have played in the SEC Tournament in North Little Rock during the 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2015 seasons, holding a 2-4 record in the tournament at the arena
• Freshman Taliah Scott is coming off five-straight 20+ point showings and is still the only player in the SEC to average 20.0+ points per game. She leads the team and the SEC with 24.5 points per game and is second in the NCAA in total points with 269, just trailing Caitlin Clark, and fifth in the country in points per game
• Saylor Poffenbarger is still one of the top rebounders in the country, leading the league with 9.6 defensive rebounds per game and 11.7 rebounds per game, which is second and sixth, respectively in the NCAA. She also has a team’s most 19 blocks
• Poffenbarger broke the school record for individual game rebounds with 23 against Florida State. Those 23 boards is the most pulled down by an NCAA DI men’s or women’s player this season
• Samara Spencer leads the team with 37 assists. Her 287 career assists is No. 15 on the career list
• Makayla Daniels leads the team with 21 steals and is now No. 6 on the all-time steals list with 213
• Daniels is the highest scoring point guard in school history with 1,590 points, which is the seventh most in school history, while holding a program’s most starts (133) and most games played (133). Daniels was selected on the All-SEC Preseason Second Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches

SCOUTING SAMFORD

• Samford is 7-3 this season with notable wins over Central Arkansas (W, 65-62) and at Troy (65-61)
• In the Southern Conference Preseason Polls, the Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the media poll and seventh in the coaches poll out of eight teams in the league
• Last season, Samford finished 13-17 with a 7-7 SoCon record. The Bulldogs were sixth in the SoCon in 2022-23, losing to ETSU, 63-47, in the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament
• Masyn Marchbanks was chosen on the Preseason All-SoCon Team following a SoCon All-Freshman Team year having averaged 9.7 points per game with 82 total assists
• This season, Marchbanks leads the Bulldogs with 11.4 points per game
• The team’s 6-5 center in Emily Bowman paces Samford with 8.7 rebounds per game and 29 total blocks. She has SEC experience, having played at Vanderbilt during her freshman season
• Lexie Pritchard has a team’s most 43 assists and Sadie Stetson leads the way with 20 total steals
• Carley Kuhns is in her fourth season at Samford, being named the unanimous 2021 SoCon Coach of the Year and 2020 SoCon Media Co-Coach of the Year