Arkansas can't get all the way back against Georgia
FAYETTEVILLE – Hustle and leadership by Brittney Vaughn was not enough for the University of Arkansas Lady Razorbacks in a 72-58 loss at the hands of Georgia Thursday night in front 3,028 pink fans at Bud Walton Arena.
“I thought we battled very hard tonight,” said Arkansas head coach Tom Collen. “We played hard until the end, but because mistakes and poor shooting we couldn’t dig out of the hole.”
Arkansas, 17-6, was hosting its Hogs Think Pink night to support the Komen Foundation and the WBCA’s effort for breast cancer awareness.
Two scoring runs in the first half by the Georgia Lady Bulldogs proved to be the dagger Arkansas could not overcome. Arkansas led the game early, and made a rally near the end of the game to close within single digits, but could not finish the comeback.
“Being at home, with the fans behind us we knew it was a winnable game,” Brittney Vaughn said. “But we let this one slip away; I felt we stuck around as long as we could on a poor shooting night like tonight.”
The second half remained no different for Georgia as they jumped out to a 16-point lead, but a 12-7 run by Arkansas showed no relinquishing from the Lady’Backs with the score at 51-42. Arkansas got back into rhythm to cut the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to single digits at 59-51 after a jumper by Jones.
“I thought we battled very hard against them,” UA head coach Tom Collen said. “We aren’t as big, strong, fast, as we need to be right now, but I thought we played hard right to the end. Still laying the foundation of the program and getting better game by game is important now.”
Arkansas had four trips against an eight-point Georgia lead, but could not get closer in the final four minutes. The Lady Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run near the end of the game fueled by two layups and three free throws from Ashley Houts.
Arkansas had the early lead 13-11, Georgia went on a 12-1 before a layup by Brereton ended the run with the score 23-16 . However, the Lady Bulldogs, 17-6 and 4-4 in the SEC, did not stop there as they went on an 11-3 run to close the first half with a 34-21 lead. Thanks to Brereton’s 4 of 7 shooting with nine points, Arkansas was within striking distance to begin the second half.
“We were rushing our shots, we tried to settle down and run our plays,” Whitney Jones said. “Their pressure took us out of our game; they’re runs in the first half were tough.”
The Lady’Backs had three opportunities to get closer, but would not cross into one possession as good free-throw shooting down the stretch by Ashley Houts helped Georgia keep their cushion late in the game.
The loss was Arkansas’ second in a row, while the win for Georgia snapped a three game losing-streak.
The Lady Bulldogs jumped on the board first with a basket by Tasha Humphrey, before a lay up by Vaughn knotted things up at two. Three buckets by Brereton, one by Jones, and a three-pointer from Charity Ford put the Lady’Backs in charge, 13-11.
The Lady’Backs had three players in double-digits in scoring led by Vaughn with 16 points. Whitney Jones and Ayana Brereton each added 13 points in the effort.
