FAYETTEVILLE — It wasn't quite as emphatic as a 79-point win in the season opener, but Arkansas cruised past Northwestern State 89-59 on Friday in front of thousands of local students to improve to 2-0 in Kelsi Musick's second season.

The calling card of this year's Arkansas team is its new defense, and it was once again on display. Arkansas forced 34 turnovers, and Friday's game even saw a Northwestern State player score on her own basket.

Even on a day where the Hogs were far from their best offensively — they shot just 38 percent from the field and 28 percent from beyond the arc — their defense was good enough to let them coast to an easy win.

"We were still able to force quite a few turnovers," Musick said. "Rebounding was really good, but we've got to limit our turnovers. I thought we really started to share the ball, find the open man and get downhill towards the second half, especially end of the third, [start] we were able to get downhill, share the ball and start to spray it a little bit for some good shots."

Senior guard Emily Robinson (18 points) and freshman Whitley Rogers (16 points) led the Razorbacks in scoring and got their shots to fall despite the constant screams of the elementary school students who filled Bud Walton Arena Friday morning.

"It was really loud in there," Rogers said. "The loudest it's ever been when I've played. I'm just grateful to be able to play in front of those kids and set an example."

Arkansas led by 15 with just over a minute left in the first half before Grace McCallop found Rogers on the left wing for a three. One minute later with the Hogs leading 40-23, Rogers nailed another left-wing three at the buzzer to put Arkansas up by 20 and give the Razorbacks some separation going into the locker room.

"It felt great," Rogers said. "It was loud in there. I just do whatever it takes to help my team. i was happy I could hit the shot."

Arkansas is 2-0 and will have two days off before Kansas City comes to town on Oct. 12. The Razorbacks have played well through their first two contests, though it's clear they're not yet a finished product.

"It takes time," Musick said. "We have a whole new team. Just making sure [we're] continuing to work on our chemistry, our camaraderie, consistency and our discipline are things we got to stay focused on, especially in November."

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