FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - For three quarters, Lamar University's women's basketball team threatened to put an end to #21 Arkansas' undefeated 10-0 start. But the by end of the fourth quarter, the Razorbacks had pulled away to a 63-50 win forcing LU to be sitting with a 4-4 record on the year so far.
Portia Adams (12 points) and
Sabria Dean (11 points) were LU's top scorers combining for 23 points between them. Dean also shared the team-rebounding lead of seven with
Anaya Bernard while
R'Mani Taylor dished out seven assists for LU. In total, LU made 32.7% from the field while Arkansas converted 43.8%.
LU opened things off with a three-pointer by Dean, but watched as the Razorbacks surged out for eight consecutive points to lead 8-3. Not intimidated by the run, LU bounced back to cut the score to 10-9 before Big Red got ahead with a pair of layups by Adams and Taylor to lead 13-12. Arkansas knotted the score with a free throw, but much like the start, Dean ended the quarter with a three-pointer and a 16-13 lead.
Early in the second quarter, LU tried to maintain a two-possession lead with each response from the Razorbacks. Adams picked up five points, including a jumper to push LU's lead to 23-19. Seven points later, it was 26-23 for Arkansas, but Dean answered with another three to tie the game at 26. With under a minute-and-a-half to go, the Razorbacks led 31-28. However,
Alyiah Craft and
Akasha Davis combined for the final five points to give the Red Birds a 33-31 lead at the break.
The Cardinals continued to battle with Arkansas as a pair of
NJ Weems free throws and two Davis lay-ups made it 39-38 in Big Red's favor. A three-pointer by Dean extended the lead to four points with 6:18 to go. That was when the Razorbacks took command and never relinquished the lead. Sparked by a 9-1 run to end the quarter, it was 47-43 to Arkansas going to the fourth quarter.
The final 10 minutes would see LU make only seven points. After trailing by nine points at 54-45, they got big baskets by
Taliah Hill and Adams to bring the score to 54-50 entering the media timeout. But once again, Arkansas would use a strong fourth quarter run to pull away from the Cardinals to a 63-50 final.
LU will make their second straight trip to a Southeastern Conference school next week when they will head to Baton Rouge to face-off against LSU on Wednesday. The ball will be tossed at 7:00 p.m.
