Arkansas Falls to No. 1/1 South Carolina

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Arkansas women’s basketball (21-12) showed vast improvement against No. 1/1 South Carolina (30-0), but ultimately fell to the defending NCAA Women’s Basketball Champions, 93-66. The Razorbacks forced 13 turnovers and made the Gamecocks earn everything they got offensively. Arkansas was led by Saylor Poffenbarger who put up 22 points, while breaking the single-season defensive rebound record, while Samara Spencer logged 16.

Arkansas won the tip, which would then set up Chrissy Carr to earn a trip to the line to knock down two free throws. South Carolina would then go on a 5-0 run, but Spencer made a nice move to the basket for a layup, Arkansas’ first field goal of the game. Erynn Barnum tied the game at 7-7 with a 3-pointer, but then the Gamecocks went on a 10-0 run. Arkansas would turn it up, as Makayla Daniels knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a 17-13 game with 4:43 left in the first quarter. South Carolina benefited from a third-chance opportunity, which set up an and-1, but then Jersey Wolfenbarger came off the bench with a nice cut to the basket for a layup. South Carolina scored two more field goals, and Arkansas broke a three-minute scoring drought with a Saylor Poffenbarger jumper. Arkansas came up with a great stop on defense, and at the end of the first quarter, the Razorbacks trailed 24-17.

Arkansas began the quarter with turnovers on back-to-back possessions, but Spencer knocked down the Razorbacks first field goal of the quarter with a 3-pointer. Arkansas made a pair of stops on defense, but South Carolina made back-to-back baskets to elevate ahead by 11. The Razorbacks were in a drought for over two minutes, but Spencer stopped it with a jumper. At the media timeout, Arkansas was behind 32-23. Out of the break, South Carolina went on a 6-2 run, as Arkansas trailed 38-25 with 2:35 left in the quarter. Poffenbarger then knocked down a 3-pointer and followed that up with a pullup jumper to cut the lead back down to 10. Arkansas had trouble stopping South Carolina in their final possessions, as the Gamecocks made 5-of-5 field goals down the stretch, including a 3-pointer. Arkansas was behind 45-30 at halftime.

South Carolina capitalized on their first possession of the second half with a jumper, but Poffenbarger responded with a jumper. The Gamecocks went on a 5-0 run, but Poffenbarger responded yet again with a 3-pointer. Arkansas called a timeout, and with 7:35 left in the quarter, as Arkansas trailed 52-35. Arkansas forced a pair of turnovers, but could not capitalize until Poffenbarger knocked down another jumper. Arkansas then fell in a two-minute scoring drought of their own until Spencer delivered back-to-back layups. Another Spencer layup from Maryam Dauda made it a 12-point game, as South Carolina was in a drought for over three minutes. The Gamecocks quickly dug out of the hole with a 4-0 run. Spencer knocked down a 3-pointer, but South Carolina responded with another layup as time expired. Arkansas fell down 62-47. The Razorbacks outrebounded the Gamecocks, 11-9 in the third, with both teams scoring 17 points.

Barnum drew a foul and made two free throws, cutting it back to 13, but the Gamecocks charged on a 9-0 run in just two minutes, while Arkansas fell in a scoring drought. Poffenbarger dug Arkansas out of the hole with a 3-pointer. South Carolina continued to stay hot in the paint, going 6-of-6 on their next field goals. Arkansas responded on a pair of possessions by getting to the free throw line, as Poffenbarger went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Daniels then made a 3-pointer, as Arkansas trailed 83-62 with under four minutes left in the game. South Carolina went on another run, 8-0, as Arkansas dropped the game, 93-66.