SJCDS' Scott rocking SEC hoops

Randy Lefko
Sports Editorwith excerpts from KYLIE MAGAR from Arkansas Athletics

Posted 1/4/24

FAYETTEVILLE – University of Arkansas freshman point guard Taliah Scott has been tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week for the fifth time in the last six weeks, which ties a school record for the most …

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SJCDS' Scott rocking SEC hoops

Former St. Johns Country Day School basketball player Taliah Scott, now a freshman at the University of Arkansas, has been awarded a fifth Southeastern Conference freshman player of the week as her collegiate career has skyrocketed with a two-game series with a 17-point effort and a 26 point effort in two Razorback tournament wins in Florida. Scott is ranked number two in total points nationwide.

Photo by ArkansasAthletics/Noah Southard

Posted Thursday, January 4, 2024 12:10 pm

Randy Lefko
Sports Editorwith excerpts from KYLIE MAGAR from Arkansas Athletics

Scott is a graduate of St. Johns Country Day School in Orange Park, FL, and also a former player in her previous two years at Oakleaf High School, also in Orange Park, FL. At both schools, Scott led those programs to Final Four finishes. At St. Johns, Scott was named Florida Gatorade Player of the Year, a Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball and also earned a McDonalds All-American selection.

At Arkansas, after leading the Hogs to a 2-0 week in her home state at the West Palm Beach Classic, Scott’s fifth SEC Freshman of the Week award ties teammate Saylor Poffenbarger and C’eira Ricketts (2008-12).

Scott was one of six players named to the West Palm Beach All-Tournament Team, having averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game across two contests. Scott tied a game-high 17 points off 7-of-15 shooting from the field against preseason-ranked Illinois in the buzzer-beater win, 60-59. She played nearly 38 minutes in the game while drawing five fouls.

The Orange Park, Florida native followed up her performance against the Fighting Illini with a game-high 26 points versus UIC in the 66-58 victory. Scott nailed a career-high six 3-pointers and matched a career-high six rebounds while adding two assists and not committing any turnovers. She played all 40 minutes against the Flames and was +8 in +/-, which led all players on the stat sheet. Scott was big for the Hogs defensively in Florida, taking a pair of charges during the week and coming up with big stops in critical moments of both games to help Arkansas go 2-0 against teams from the state of Illinois.

Scott continues to pace the SEC in scoring, as she has since the start of the season while being the only player in the league to average 20.0+ points per game. Nationally, Scott is second in total points (321), third in free throw makes (70), free throw attempts (86), field goal attempts (252) and 3-point attempts (112), as well as sixth in points per game (22.9). Scott has become the fastest freshman in Arkansas women’s basketball history to reach 321 points through their first 14 collegiate games.