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Razorbacks fall to LSU on OT penalty kicks in SEC Tournament
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Arkansas fell short of its first SEC Tournament title Sunday afternoon, falling to LSU in penalty kicks, 4-1 after ending the first 110 minutes of the match tied 1-1.
It was the fifth time Arkansas reached the finals, with this year being the third in a row.
“First off, congrats to LSU,” Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. “I’m gutted for our players. They gave it their all. It took a wonderstrike from 45 yards to beat us and this stings right now. We will get back to Fayetteville and get ready for NCAAs. We still have a lot more to play for and I wouldn’t want to go to the national tournament with any other group.”
The Razorbacks (13-5-3) had come so close in each of the last two years, falling by a single goal in 2016 to Florida and in 2017 to Texas A&M. This year, the Razorbacks looked like it would break the drought with Malham scoring her fifth goal of the season in the 13th minute.
Junior Stefani Doyle had the first look at the net on the play and fired from the top of the box, but her shot bounced off the crossbar and back into play.
Malham picked up the rebound and headed it back in for the score.
Malham now has five goals on the year and 18 points, tying her with junior Tori Cannata for second on the team. Doyle now has seven assists on the year and 11 points, good for fifth on the team.
Arkansas was the aggressor in the first half, but LSU started to turn up the heat in the second half, pressuring the back line to find shots on goal. The Tigers tied the game on a 45-yard strike from Shannon Cooke in the 72nd minute.
After going through both overtimes without a goal, both teams had to settle in penalty kicks to determine the champion. LSU, who had defeated Tennessee in 7-6 in penalty kicks earlier in the tournament, went first in Sunday’s shootout.
Alex Thomas of LSU made the first shot to put LSU up 1-0, before Stefani Doyle had her shot blocked by the LSU keeper.
The Tigers proceeded to make their second shot, and went up 2-0 after Taylor Malham’s shot hit the left post and went wide.
Haley VanFossen gave the Razorbacks life in the third round of shots, but needing to hold the Tigers scoreless under a 3-1 deficit proved too much. Tiger Abbey Newton would drain the final shot to end the match 4-1 in PK’s.
At the conclusion of Sunday’s final, VanFossen, Doyle, and junior Kayla McKeon were named to the All-Tournament team. McKeon had the game-winner against Florida giving her a team-leading five game-winners on the year.
Up Next
Arkansas now awaits to see who its first opponent will be in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The selection show will be aired on NCAA.com tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
LSU shows rest of SEC West just how wide gap is to Alabama
LSU’s best defensive player had to sit out the first half against Alabama on Saturday night and it appeared the offense stayed with him in support.
Devin White came back in the second half, but it didn’t matter. The Tigers’ offense didn’t matter much, either, as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 29-0 win that produced more yawns and shrugs than anything else.
“There was nothing we could do about it,” Ed Orgeron said later.
Alabama’s win was so dominating there wasn’t even need for the usual coach-speak. What would be the point? Everybody saw the Tide’s dominance.
It also should have shown Orgeron that you have to score points these days to win a championship. Yeah, in football today the defense will win you some games, but offense wins championships.
You have to be good in both areas unless you’re in the Big 12 where you only have to win a key game every year to land in the playoff.
In the SEC West, you’ve got to get past Alabama, who is now No. 1 in the nation in offense and No. 12 in defense.
Nick Saban, like nearly every other great coach in college football history, has shown a willingness to change his thinking as the game has changed. Ten years ago, the Tide won by running the ball and playing great defense.
Now they throw the ball to set up the run and the defense starts the season as a work in progress and gets better every week.
Don’t believe it? Arkansas put up over 400 yards on Alabama. LSU on Saturday night didn’t get half of that.
You get the idea Orgeron wants more offense, but until they change their approach and — maybe more importantly — the perception, that isn’t going to happen because they simply don’t have the offensive personnel.
That comes from years of following the defense-first mindset. It kinda worked for Les Miles until he couldn’t make it work anymore.
Now it’s on Orgeron.
“We weren’t even close to them tonight,” he said after the loss Saturday night.
It did show just how far the gap is between the Tide and the rest of the West. Over the last few years that gap has started getting bigger … much bigger.
Comparing results against Alabama is folly, at best. Yes, the Razorbacks put up better numbers, but the Tide wasn’t really too worried about their trip to Fayetteville. They were more focused going to Baton Rouge.
“We really wanted to make a statement in this game,” Nick Saban said later. “A lot of people talk about our schedule. What better opportunity is there to make a statement than the circumstance we were in?”
Now the motivation turns to LSU.
Remember, Miles wasn’t fired because he couldn’t beat Alabama. He was fired because he would turn around and lose to Arkansas (6-5 in his time) and Ole Miss (7-4) after losing to the Tide.
There were some other issues, but losses to those two threw Miles’ wagon into the ditch after it was already wobbling.
The Tigers come to Fayetteville this week in the only night game at Razorback Stadium this season against an Arkansas team looking for something to salvage in a season of a few ups, but mostly downs.
Beat LSU would avoid the worst record in Razorback history since 1952. That was at the end of the Otis Douglas era.
Which, of course, was the worst hire in program history until Bret Bielema who is responsible for the situation with the Hogs now. Considering his two coordinators in Fayetteville will be coaching the SEC Championship Game in December, well, it’s pretty easy to see where the problem was the last five years.
Hey, when the gap to Alabama is so wide, you have to find some interesting games where you can find them in the SEC West these days.
Razorbacks down Gators, headed to third straight SEC final
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Arkansas is, once again, in the SEC Tournament final after defeating eight-seed Florida, 1-0, in overtime Friday afternoon.
Junior Kayla McKeon headed in a perfect cross from junior Marissa Kinsey in the 92nd minute, sending Arkansas to its third-straight tournament final appearance, fifth overall.
Arkansas (13-4-3) will be going for its first SEC Tournament championship on Sunday when it will face seven-seed LSU at 1 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks beat LSU earlier this season, 2-1, in double overtime, getting a two-goal performance from junior Tori Cannata.
LSU (13-6-2) reaches the title game after winning three matches this week, similar to Arkansas’ run last year. The Tigers have eliminated 10-seed Missouri, two-seed Tennessee and six-seed South Carolina en route to its title appearance.
McKeon’s goal was her eighth of the year, tying her with fellow junior Tori Cannata, who scored one goal in Arkansas’ 4-0 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday.
Friday’s score was McKeon’s fifth game-winning goal of the year, the most by a Razorback since Lindsey Mayo had five during the 2016 season.
The Razorbacks have made reaching the tournament final normal practice over the last three seasons, but have yet to raise the trophy as conference tournament champions in their history.
In each of its last two appearances, the goal difference has been only one goal. Arkansas fell to Florida in 2016, 2-1 in overtime, then fell to Texas A&M by the same score in regulation in 2017.
By reaching Sunday’s championship game, Arkansas is the first team to make the final in three or more consecutive seasons since Florida made it five-straight seasons between 2010 and 2014.
Sound Byte
“This team is just tough. I think they really wanted it. They’ve seen two different teams celebrate winning the title and I think this team just said ‘We want to win it. We want to win an SEC championship. Every team is a little bit different and we thought this team had a chance to do it. I couldn’t be more proud of them.” — Coach Colby Hale how his team was able to reach the SEC Tournament final for the third-straight season
“It’s interesting so far. We’ve played two teams that have beaten us earlier this season, but got to face them again in this tournament. This team just has a tremendous mentality. When all the chips are on the table, this team is the one you want to bet on.” — Hale on the mentality his team has had this season with the goal of winning the SEC Tournament title this week
“We’re extremely excited about this. We just lost to Florida, 3-0, last week, so it was good to come out and get a team win like this. We’ve all bought in to our plan and this shows how much we’ve come together as a team. It’s really impressive.” — Carly Hoke on the win over Florida
“I honestly thought the ball was going to go out. But when Stef (Doyle) saved it and Marissa (Kinsey) put in a good cross, it was a whole team effort. We were in their half for nearly the entire game and it was the press that hurt them. We just kept going and kept fighting and knew we would eventually get one.” — Kayla McKeon on her game-winning goal
“It’s just about the way we play and the way we press. All year, we’ve been preparing for this. The way we practice prepares us for this. It’s nice we’ve made it three years in a row, but we want to win it this time.” — Hoke on reaching the SEC Tournament final three years in a row
“We are ready to get the ring. We’ve made it to two-straight championships and we’ve been working towards this since last year and even since my freshman year. We are very ready to finish this thing out. We know we are very capable of it.” — McKeon on the motivation of trying to win the program’s first championship
Other Key Notes
• With the victory, Arkansas now has 13 wins on the year, which is the third-most ever in a season in program history.
• The goal by Kayla McKeon was her eighth goal of the year, one less than her previous career-high of nine goals set during her freshman season (2016).
• McKeon now has five points in her two tournament games this week, which leads the team. She had a career-high three assists in Arkansas’ 4-0 quarterfinal win over Ole Miss on Tuesday.
• Friday’s win was Arkansas’ second win all-time against the Gators, the first coming in 2016. Florida leads the all-time series with Arkansas, 2-22.
• Arkansas is returning to the SEC Tournament final for the third-consecutive season and will be making its fifth appearance in the final all-time.
• Arkansas is now tied for the second-most tournament final appearances all-time. Florida leads all teams with 17 appearances, while Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn each have five appearances.
• Marissa Kinsey has had a hand in three of Arkansas’ five goals during this week’s SEC Tournament, including Friday’s winner over Florida. Kinsey only had one assist coming into the tournament, but now has four goals and four assists (12 points) heading into Sunday’s final.
• The Razorbacks locked up their eighth shutout of the year and second of the tournament after defeating Florida, 1-0. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Beitz has been in goal for six of those clean sheets and is averaging four saves in those matches.
Up Next
The Razorbacks will go for its first SEC Tournament title on Sunday when it faces seven-seed LSU at 1 p.m. at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
Hogs get 100-63 win over Southwest Baptist in last exhibition
PHOTOS BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM
FAYETTEVILLE — Daniel Gafford had a double-double (17 points and 12 rebounds), while Isaiah Joe had a game-high 19 points and Mason Jones added 17 points, to lead Arkansas to a 100-63 victory over Southwest Baptist in the Razorbacks’ second and final exhibition game prior to next Friday’s season opener versus Texas in the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
Joe was 5-of-9 from the field — all from 3-point range — and 4-of-4 at the line. Gafford added three blocked shots to go with his double-double and Jones was 7-of-8 from the free throw line to assist in his 17-point effort.
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson came off the bench to score 11 points, making 4-of-6 from the field (3-of-5 from 3-point range).
Much as they did in the first exhibition, Arkansas turned a close game at halftime into a blow-out early in the second half as the Razorbacks went on an 18-4 run to put the game out of reach.
In a tale of two halves, Arkansas only had nine assists with 10 turnovers in the first half while using its up-tempo brand to dish out 12 second-half assists while committing just five turnovers.
Defensively, Arkansas forced 15 turnovers each period and finished with 18 steals – nine each half.
Arkansas will open the 2018-19 season next Friday (Nov. 9) versus Texas in the ESPN Armed Forces Classic.
The game will be played on Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
FIRST HALF: Arkansas 40 – Southwest Baptist 30
• Starters were #1 Isaiah Joe (G); #2 Adrio Bailey (F), #5 Jalen Harris (G), #10 Daniel Gafford (F) and #13 Mason Jones (G).
• Arkansas led by one, 13-12 with 11:59 left in the first period. Mason Jones sparked a 10-0 run, hitting a layup and 3-pointer – to pit the Razorbacks up 11 at the 7:57 mark.
• The Bearcats trimmed their deficit to six (36-30), thanks to a 3-pointer by Quinn Nelson, with two minutes to play in the period.
• Desi Sills drained a pair of free throws and Daniel Gafford made a layup with 39 seconds left to put the Razorbacks up 10 at the break.
• Mason Jones led the way with 10, first-half points while Daniel Gafford had seven points and five rebounds.
SECOND HALF: Arkansas out-scored the Bearcats 60-33
• Teams traded baskets the first two trips down the floor to start the second half until Isaiah Joe sank back-to-back 3-pointers two-and-a-half minutes into the half. Those treys ignited an 11-0 run to put the home team up 21 (55-34). All told, Arkansas had an 18-4 run as the clock went under 14 minutes.
• At the 8-minute media timeout, Arkansas pushed its lead to 30, 81-51. In the first 12 minutes of the second half alone, Daniel Gafford put up eight points and seven rebounds while Isaiah Joe had nine points on 3-of-4 shooting beyond the arc.
• Ethan Henderson had a break-away dunk just before the final buzzer to put the Razorbacks in triple digits.
Quick Hits:
• Arkansas is 16-0 in exhibition games under head coach Mike Anderson and Coach Anderson is 34-0 as a head coach in exhibition games.
• Arkansas has scored 88-plus points in 11 of those 16 wins with an average margin of victory of 31.5 points.
• Arkansas won both exhibitions this season by an average margin of 43 points, including a 49-point win versus Tusculum and a 37-point win over Southwest Baptist.
• Arkansas has won 30 consecutive exhibition games dating back to 2004-05 season.
Anderson recapping Hogs’ win in final exhibition tuneup
Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson talked about the strong second half against Southwest Baptist in the final tuneup before opening the season against Texas next week.
Gafford, Jones talk about Friday’s win over Southwest Baptist
Arkansas players Daniel Gafford and Mason Jones talked with the media after the 100-63 win over Southwest Baptist on Friday night at Bud Walton in the final exhibition game of the preseason.
Lengthy interview with Van Horn on Hogs’ baseball after fall
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn held a lengthy media session Friday morning and covered a wide range of topics on the Hogs baseball team, including offseason and Andrew Benitendi’s championship with Boston.
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Williams perfect, Monk scores 18 win win in final tuneup game
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas junior Kiara Williams had a perfect shooting night, pacing the Razorbacks to a 101-46 win over East Central in exhibition action in Bud Walton Arena on Thursday.
Williams was 5-for-5 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free throw line finishing with 16 points. She was one rebound shy of a double-double grabbing nine boards in 20 minutes of play.
The victory is the second consecutive exhibition win and the second in which Arkansas has scored 100+ points.
Senior Malica Monk led Arkansas in scoring with 18 points followed by Williams with 16 points. A’Tyanna Gaulden added 12 points and Chelsea Dungee had 10 points rounding out the Razorbacks in double figures.
The good shooting night was highlighted by an exhibition record 13 3-point field goals.
While the offensive numbers were impressive, it was Arkansas’ defense that head coach Mike Neighbors wanted to talk about after the game.
The Razorbacks held ECU to 46 points, the fifth lowest opponent exhibition point total in program history and the Tigers shot just 24.6 percent for the game. Arkansas allowed just seven points in each of the first two quarters and held a 43-14 lead at the half.
Key Stats
Arkansas went on a 12-1 run over 4:58 to open a 14-4 lead late in the first quarter.
Arkansas did not have a turnover in the first quarter.
Notes
• Arkansas starters: Alexis Tolefree, Malica Monk, Kiara Williams, Jailyn Mason, Chelsea Dungee.
• Arkansas set a program exhibition record with 13 made 3-point field goals.
• Arkansas has scored 80+ points in 25 exhibition games, 90+ points eight times and 100+ points six times.
Up Next
The Razorbacks open the regular season hosting Northwestern State Friday, Nov. 9 at 10:30 a.m.
