Arkansas Crumbles in Fourth Quarter, Falls to Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (19-10, 6-8 SEC) meltdown in the fourth quarter to drop the game to Georgia, 71-48. Going into the final quarter of play, Arkansas trailed by just eight, but the Razorbacks did not score for over five minutes in the fourth to be outscored 23-8 in the final frame. Chrissy Carr led the team with 21 points and matching a career-high five 3-pointers, while Erynn Barnum reached 1,000 career points with 16 on the afternoon.
Georgia got on the board first, but Barnum responded by converting a 3-point play. After Barnum’s and-1, Arkansas was held in a scoring drought for over two minutes until Carr knocked down a triple to tie the score at 6-6. At the media timeout, the Razorbacks were down by a basket, 8-6, with 4:52 remaining in the first quarter. Georgia scored a 3-pointer and a second-chance layup out of the timeout to continue on a 7-0 run, but Saylor Poffenbarger answered on the other end with a jumper. Arkansas was 1-of-8 from the field until Makayla Daniels came up with a layup and got fouled in the process to be rewarded with the 3-point play. Arkansas trailed 15-11 after one quarter.
The Razorbacks continued on its run with a Poffenbarger jumper and a Barnum basket, which tied the game at 15-15 with 7:49 left in the quarter. Georgia took a timeout after that 7-0 run and came out of the break with one of their own, 4-0, until Carr drained her second triple of the contest. The Razorbacks held the Lady Bulldogs to no field goals for over four minutes until a cut to the basket set up for a Lady Bulldog layup to lead the Razorbacks, 23-18. Carr knocked down her third 3-pointer of the game and then made two free throws to earn her way to double digits in scoring early. Georgia responded after both of those Arkansas possessions to lead the Razorbacks, 27-23 with under two minutes left in the quarter. At the halftime break, Georgia led 31-27.
Carr knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the game to cut the Georgia lead to three, 34-31, under two minutes into the second half. Whenever Arkansas seemed to get going offensively, Georgia would respond, until both teams were held in scoring drought for over two minutes. At the media timeout taken a 4:55, Arkansas trailed 38-33. Georgia scored off a second-chance opportunity to extend their lead to seven, but Carr answered with a 3-pointer and after a Barnum layup, Arkansas was down by four. Georgia then went on a 4-0 run to force Arkansas to take a timeout, down 46-38 with 1:36 remaining in the quarter. Poffenbarger knocked down a jumper out of the timeout, but Georgia scored on another second-chance layup to take a 48-40 lead over Arkansas going into the fourth quarter.
Barnum delivered a layup for the first score of the fourth quarter, but Georgia came around on the other end with a 3-pointer to lead by nine. A turnaround jumper by Barnum pulled the lead down to seven, but the Lady Bulldogs rolled on a 4-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 11, with 6:14 left in the game. Barnum pulled the Razorbacks back within nine, but Georgia came back with a jumper, and following two technical fouls charged to Arkansas’ bench, Georgia made three of the four free throws. That is when things started to crumble for Arkansas and Georgia went on a 16-0 run in just three minutes and Arkansas did not score for over five minutes halfway through the fourth quarter. The Razorbacks dropped the contest, 71-48.