It didn’t look good at first, but the Arkansas women’s basketball team used a big end to the first half and a bigger start to the second to bring home a 72-55 win over Dayton in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The win is first NCAA tournament win for Arkansas since 2003.
Arkansas started the game slowly on the offensive end and trailed 9-3 at the first media timeout. The Razorbacks shot just 20 percent from the floor through the first 10 minutes, and at one point went 6:30 without scoring.
A three-pointer from Dayton’s Andrea Hoover put the Flyers up 30-16, but then Arkansas went on a 15-3 run to make it a 33-31 game with 1:55 left in the first half.
After a Dayton jumper, Arkansas made four free throws to end the half and went into the locker room tied at 35.
The Razorbacks started the second half on an 8-2 run to take the lead at 43-37, but the Flyers answered with an 11-5 run of their own to tie the game at 48 with 13:15 to play.
But a C’eira Ricketts bucket with 11:03 left ignited an 11-0 Arkansas run to put the Razorbacks up 63-53 with 6:42 left.
Dayton scored just two points for the remainder of the game, and did not score a field goal for the final 12 minutes of the second half.
Quistelle Williams led the Razorbacks with 15 points. Keira Peak and Lyndsay Harris both had 14, and Ricketts finished with 13.
There’s a storyline to the Razorbacks’ second round game. They’ll face Texas A&M and former Arkansas coach Gary Blair on Monday.
