Razorbacks can’t quite get past Mississippi State in close loss

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas (13-5, 1-2 SEC) dropped a close game to Mississippi State (14-4, 1-2 SEC) Thursday night, 66-63, despite being down by as many as 15 in the first half. The Hogs outscored the Bulldogs 26-15 in the third quarter to trail by one, 48-47, going into the fourth quarter. Arkansas came up just short after having a chance to tie the game twice with less than one minute left in the game. Maryam Dauda had a career night with her first double-double behind a career-high 17 points and 13 boards with three blocks.

MSU got on the board first with a second-chance jumper after winning the tip. Arkansas came up empty on its first seven possessions, while MSU jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Searching for the first basket after starting the game 0-for-6 from the field, Arkansas took a timeout 4:20 into the action, down by 10. Out of the timeout, Dauda got the Hogs on the board with back-to-back jumpers.

MSU answered after Dauda’s second jumper, but Makayla Daniels and Carly Keats answered by knocking down triples. The Hogs trailed, 14-10, with 1:47 left in the first. After a Saylor Poffenbarger 3-pointer, the Hogs cut the deficit to one, but MSU responded off a third-chance opportunity. At the end of the first, the Bulldogs led, 16-13. After the Hogs took the timeout 4:20 into the game, Arkansas was able to close out the quarter on a 13-6 run.

The Bulldogs began the second quarter on an 11-0 run, while the Hogs started the frame 0-for-8 from the field. At the media timeout and still searching for its first points in the second quarter, Arkansas trailed, 27-13. Coming off the bench, Jenna Lawrence knocked down a triple, Arkansas’ first points of the frame, but MSU answered with four straight points, while Arkansas went into another scoring drought.

MSU then took a timeout with 2:23 left in the first half, as Arkansas trailed, 31-16. Lawrence then delivered a big block and the Hogs answered with a Poffenbarger triple. The Bulldogs got their first triple after starting the game 0-for-8, and then Lawrence knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to 12 with less than one minute in the half. The Hogs were able to end the quarter on a 9-6 run, trailing 34-22 at the half.

Poffenbarger knocked down her third triple of the game to open the second half and to cut the deficit to nine, but MSU went on a 4-0 run. Dauda then came up with an and-1 off a second-chance opportunity, as Arkansas trailed, 38-28. Dauda then knocked down two free throws, but MSU responded with a triple. Keats then knocked down a triple after Poffenbarger came up with a big offensive board, which led to a Samara Spencer layup as a part of a 5-0 run.

MSU then called timeout, as the Hogs trailed, 45-39, with 3:45 left in the third quarter. The run continued out of the timeout, as Keats knocked down her third triple of the game and Spencer drained one of her own. On an 11-0 run, Arkansas tied the game at 45 with 2:10 left in the third quarter at the media timeout. Arkansas committed three turnovers in less than two minutes out of the break, and the Bulldogs got out of their three-minute drought with layups, both off steals.

Carly Keats (Arkansas Communications)

Spencer then delivered a layup to cut the deficit back to two. Daniels then made one of two free throws, as the Hogs trailed, 49-48, after the third quarter. The Hogs outscored the Bulldogs, 26-15 in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs struck first in the fourth quarter with a layup, but Dauda had a response with a layup to earn her first career double-double. MSU knocked down two free throws, but Spencer took it to the lane for a layup to tally double digits in scoring. MSU had an answer with an and-1, converting the three-point play. At the media timeout taken at 4:37, the game was tied at 55.

Out of the break, MSU logged a basket, but the Hogs tied it up with a Dauda layup. Spencer then knocked down two free throws to help the Hogs take its first lead of the game with 3:30 left in the game. MSU came up with a layup, but Dauda had a response with a layup. The Bulldogs converted a three-point play to retake the lead, 62-61, with 2:31 left in the game. MSU came up with a second-chance layup, and after Arkansas called a timeout, MSU led 64-61 with 56 seconds left in the contest.

The Bulldogs were unable to come up with a score to extend their cushion, but rather fouled, which sent Dauda to the line. She knocked down two free throws, as Arkansas trailed, 64-63, with 18.7 seconds left in the game. The Hogs fouled, and MSU knocked down the first shot, but missed the second.

Poffenbarger got the rebound and Arkansas called a timeout, down, 65-63, with 15.6 seconds left in the game. Spencer drove to the layup but was blocked, and the ball touched her leg, which turned the ball over to MSU. The Hogs fouled for one last chance, as MSU made one of two free throws to defeat the Hogs, 66-63.

Hogs Highlights

• Dauda logged her first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, tallying seven of her rebounds in the first half. She also logged two assists and three blocks in nearly 38 minutes on the court

• Spencer logged 13 points, all in the second half. She also registered four boards and six assists

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• Poffenbarger played all 40 minutes for the second time this season, recording nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks

• Also, Poffenbarger is ninth in school history for total rebounds in a single season with 230

• Keats logged her third straight double-digit scoring game, fourth this season, behind 12 points in 37 minutes

• Daniels achieved another milestone in her career, getting her 500th career rebound in the first quarter. She finished with six points and six rebounds, while now becoming the only Hog to have logged 1,600 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals in their career

• Lawrence provided a big spark off the bench with six points, logging two 3-pointers for the first time of her career, along with two rebounds and one block. She was also the only Hog with positive +/- with +8

• Arkansas had 12 second chance points compared to MSU’s 10

Next Game

The Hogs will head to Tuscaloosa this weekend to face Alabama for the first of two times during the regular season. Arkansas and the Crimson Tide will play at Coleman Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. on SEC Network.