FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—
KP Parr poured in a career-high 20 points, but Northwestern State couldn't overcome 34 turnovers in an 89-59 loss to Arkansas on Friday morning at Bud Walton Arena.
Parr, a junior from Waco, Texas, scored the first six points for the Demons (1-1) and scored 20 on 7-of-10 shooting, but the Razorbacks (2-0) used its pressure defense to force 34 more turnovers after it forced 51 last game and used its size to outrebound NSU 51-35, which offset a slight NSU advantage in terms of shooting percentage of 41.7 percent to 38.1 percent.
"The final score is frustrating because it doesn't reflect the game we actually played," head coach
Alan Frey said. "We stood toe-to-toe with them and were down 12 late in the third, but we didn't finish the job.
"A complete game requires 40 minutes of discipline, and letting it get away from us in the fourth is unacceptable. I'm glad our group showed fight, but we aren't here for moral victories. We have to be tougher, sustain that intensity, and finish games."
Arkansas used the defense to scored 42 points off turnovers and its height to score 27 second chance points.
NSU could not have asked for a much better start, as the Demons made five of their first seven shot attempts to take an early 10-9 lead at the first media timeout.
But Arkansas responded with a 16-2 to finish the first quarter to give the home team a 25-12 lead after 10 minutes.
Despite a 20-point deficit at halftime, the Demons stormed out of the gates in the second half with a 12-2 run to begin the half, which cut down the deficit to 45-35.
Stephie Salumu, who matched a career high with 12 points, scored six points during that run as well as an impressive assist on a layup for
Payton Miller.
But an 18-4 response from Arkansas pushed the lead to 24 in the third.
Much like the NSU win over Eccclesia when
Chloe Donnell made two buzzer beaters from deep, Arkansas did the same to NSU in this one, as Whitley Rogers hit a buzzer-beating triple at the end of the second quarter to make it 43-23 and Kateri Poole buried a 3-pointer at the horn in the third quarter to go up 66-43.
A bucket and one in the fourth at the 6:18 mark from Miller sliced the deficit to 66-50, but the Demons couldn't cut into the lead anymore, as Arkansas responded with a 10-0 run to put the game away.
In the second half, the Demons shot 50 percent, as they hung with Arkansas in those final 20 minutes.
In addition to Salumu's career-high tying 12 points, she also added four rebounds and set a career high with six steals.
Emily Robinson led the Razorbacks with 18 points and Rogers scored 16.
The Demons hit the road once again against Oklahoma State for another morning tip-off on Monday before wrapping up the road trip at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 12.
