Gators swamp Arkansas at Bud Walton
FAYETTEVILLE – Senior Whitney Jones had another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the University of Arkansas Lady Razorback basketball team on Sunday afternoon, but despite her efforts and that of four other double-digit scorers, the Lady’Backs fell to Southeastern Conference rival Florida, 92-74, at Bud Walton Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The loss drops Arkansas to 16-3 overall and 1-3 in SEC play while Florida improves to 13-5, 2-1 in conference action.
“Obviously, it’s a tough loss,” Arkansas head coach Tom Collen said. “We are still trying to recapture ourselves, and going down by 10 points is a hard thing to overcome. To their credit the players overcame it a couple of times tonight. We had some careless turnovers and that led to layups on the other side.”
The Gators opened the contest with a three, but quickly found themselves on the defensive as Jones scored the next six points of the contest to give Arkansas a 6-3 lead. Florida would respond with seven straight points of its own to regain the lead 10-7 which would lead to a series of ties and lead changes throughout the first half.
Florida was able to procure a nine-point lead late into the half, but another Arkansas run started by a Sarah Pfeifer three in the corner would get the Lady Razorbacks back to within two. Unfortunately for the Lady Razorbacks, their comeback bid would come up short as turnovers on consecutive possessions would allow Florida to regain its nine-point cushion and a three at the buzzer would end the half with Florida holding a 45-34 lead.
“The first big run that I remember was because we were turning the ball over,” Pfeifer said.
Arkansas was not about to let its halftime deficit get the better of it in the locker room. The Lady Razorbacks came out firing in the second half and quickly cut into the Florida advantage. Each Arkansas run at Florida’s lead however was quickly countered by an equally impressive Florida counter.
With time winding down, Arkansas showed fatigue as it tried to push the tempo and create quick offense. The Gators capitalized on the Arkansas missteps and increased its lead to a game high 26.
“I was really pleased with our overall performance,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “On the road in the SEC you have to get production from everywhere and we did that today. We won the rebounding war and in the SEC that is crucial.”
Behind Jones’ 16 points, Pfeifer, Brittney Vaughn and Ayana Brereton scored 14 points with freshman Brittney Richardson hitting for a career high 12. Florida also had multiple players score in double digits. Jennifer Moser led all scorers with a career high 19 points and she was aided by Sha Brooks (17), Depree Bowden (15) and Marshae Dotson (15).
The Lady Razorbacks go to the University of Tennessee on Thursday night to take on the second-ranked Lady Vols in Knoxville, Tenn. For more information about Lady Razorback basketball or about Arkansas women’s athletics, please go to www.ladybacks.com.
