BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON
McKayla Daniels and Jersey Wolfenbarger both had 13 points as Arkansas moved to 2-0 on its European Tour with a 71-49 win over ŽKK Budućnost Podgorica Wednesday in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Razorback freshman Taliah Scott added 12 points against a squad based in Montenegro that was undefeated in the Montenegrin Prva A professional league at 23-0.
It was a far cry from a 124-112 win over the InCroatia AllStars on Monday in a game in which Arkansas forced 38 turnovers, 26 coming via steals.
“We spent a lot of time in the sun today and it showed a little bit early as we did not have our legs under us and you were playing a professional team of adults, people that have been together a long time,” Razorback head coach Mike Neighbors said.
Earlier in the day, the Razorbacks toured the beaches Elefiti Islands and the city of Dubrovnik, which had several sites used in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones.
Arkansas led 39-30 at halftime before dominating the second half.
“I was happy with how we fought through the sun lag and made some great adjustments, but it’s been a really good two days for us,” Neighbors said. “After a long travel day, to play like we did the other day and now to play after a tour of Dubrovnik and a day on the water, I have to be happy with the way our kids responded.
“The way we played through some physicality and then locked down defensively in the second half.”
Samara Spencer chipped in 7 points, Saylor Poffenbarger and Jenna Lawrence 5, Maryam Dauda 4, Sasha Goforth 4, Karley Johnson and Loren Lindsey 3, Emrie Ellis 2 while Maryan Archer and Carly Keats played, but did not score.
Goforth and Dauda both had 8 rebounds to top the Razorbacks in that category while Lawrence notched 7 caroms and Wolfenbarger, Poffenbarger and Ellis each added 6 boards and Scott 5 as the Razorbacks had a 63-43 advantage.
Scott and Spencer, who had 11 of her 13 points in the opening two quarters, had four assists each.
Arkansas was 25 of 76 (32.9 percent) from the field, 7 of 23 from 3-point range (30.4 percent) and 14 of 18 (77.8 percent) from the free throw line.
Their foe was just 17 of 61 from the floor, 5 of 27 from 3 and 10 of 12 on charity tosses while committing 18 turnovers.
Arkansas will move on to spend a couple of days in Athens, Greece and will finish up its tour with a Sunday 10 a.m. CST game against the University of Regina, a Canadian college team.
Photo courtesy of Arkansas athletics
