Razorbacks’ women’s basketball releases SEC schedule

FAYETTEVILLE — Five teams who reached the postseason, four teams in the top-30 RPI and the NCAA runner-up are just a few of the highlights of the 2019 Southeastern Conference home schedule for coach Mike Neighbors and Arkansas.

The league office released the composite schedule Wednesday with the Razorbacks hosting national runner-up Mississippi State in the conference opener on Jan. 3. Arkansas’ other home SEC games include Vanderbilt on Jan. 13, Alabama on Jan. 24, Georgia on Jan. 31, South Carolina on Feb. 3, Auburn on Feb. 10, Ole Miss on Feb. 24 and Missouri on Feb. 28.

The 16-game schedule also features a Big Monday road contest at Tennessee on Jan. 21, as part of the SEC’s We Back Pat initiative.

The Razorbacks have home-and-away series with Ole Miss, Missouri and Georgia this season. Times for all of Arkansas’ games will be released when they are available.

From Mike Neighbors:

“The start of the football season is coming fast and the release of the SEC women’s basketball schedule means that we are getting closer to tipping off as well. We are all excited about this team and about getting started. It is always fun to get out the calendars and update them with our great league opponents.

“Our fans will have a chance to see many of the SEC’s perennial powerhouses in Bud Walton Arena this season. When you combine our SEC schedule with our non-conference opponents, it’s easy to see that we have a great challenge in front of us but one we will embrace and start working toward today to be ready when November rolls around.”

In his first season with the Razorbacks, Neighbors guided the team to 13 wins, improved their SEC record and won the first game in the SEC Tournament.

The Razorbacks graduated the services of its second-leading scorer in Devin Cosper but return four of the top 5 point-getters from a year ago.

Senior Malica Monk leads a 16-player roster that is both deep and full of talent. She is joined by fellow seniors Raven Northcross-Baker, Keiryn Swenson and Bailey Zimmerman.

The team got a jump-start on the 2018-19 season with a 10-day exhibition trip to Italy taking on three international teams.

Junior college transfer Alexis Tolefree paced the team on the foreign tour averaging 15.0 points per game.

Chelsea Dungee, who redshirted last season, added 9.3 ppg followed by junior Kiara Williams and Monk who both contributed 8.7 ppg.

Arkansas is scheduled to host an exhibition contest Nov. 1 followed by the season opener on Nov. 9 against Northeastern State.

Notes

• This is just the second time in five seasons that Arkansas has opened SEC play at home.

• Arkansas plays Ole Miss, Missouri and Georgia in a home-and-away series.

• The Razorbacks play at Tennessee as part of the SEC’s Big Monday coverage on Jan. 21. It is also part of the league’s We Back Pat initiative.

• Seven SEC teams reached the NCAA Tournament with an eighth team taking part in the WNIT.