Sorrow at Stegeman
No. 22 Georgia nails last-second shot to beat No. 19 Arkansas.
No. 19 Arkansas led most of the second half on the road Monday night but couldn’t seal the deal.
Gabby Connally scored eight of Georgia’s final 12 points, including a jumper from the wing with less than a second left, to give the No. 22 Bulldogs a 75-73 Southeastern Conference win in Stegeman Coliseum.
Arkansas (11-6. 2-5 SEC) called a quick time out with 0.9 seconds remaining after Connally’s bucket and advanced the ball to mid-court, but a lob to the basket was well defended by Georgia and an off-balance attempt was off the mark as the horn sounded.
University of Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors credited Georgia’s defense late.
“It just felt like we had a hard time scoring down the last little bit,” Neighbors said. “This team defensively has always given us fits. I thought for a large portion of the game we played really well but you can’t play just large portions of the game when you’re on the road in this league. Especially this year.
“You’ve got to play a full 40 minutes. We were closer tonight. We were closer to a full 40 but not enough to beat a good team on their home floor.
The Bulldogs (13-2, 5-2) made the most of a second chance late. Que Morrison misfired from three-point range with 9 seconds left, but teammate Jordan Isaacs corralled the rebound to give Connally her final chance.
The Razorbacks led 7065 with 4:10 left after Erynn Barnum’s basket inside, but Arkansas could not manage another field goal for the remainder of the game.
Destiny Slocum hit two free throws to give Arkansas a 72-71 lead and Chelsea Dungee added 1 of 2 to push the Razorbacks’ lead to two with 1:17 left. But they would not score again.
Connally, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, scored to tie it at 73-73. Georgia then got a stop and made the most of it.
Arkansas struggled late offensively, making just one of its last 10 field goal attempts. But in a one-possession game the key mistake could have come earlier, Neighbors said. He pointed to a situation where Georgia beat the Razorbacks down the floor for a layup after a made free throw by Arkansas.
“When it’s a one-possession game like that, you go back and start analyzing and overanalyzing probably from a coaching standpoint. But obviously it gets magnified at the end of a game. I understand that.”
Dungee finished with a game-high 25 points, including 11 of 14 from the freethrow line. Barnum added 15 points off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting, while Makayla Daniels added 13 and Slocum 11. Taylah Thomas also grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds.
Arkansas enjoyed a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 21 of 25 for the game, compared to 11 of 14 for Georgia.
Connally and Jenna Staiti led the Bulldogs with 20 points each. Staiti, a 6-foot4 senior, produced a double-double, grabbing a gamehigh 13 rebounds to go with five blocked shots. She helped Georgia win the battle of the boards 42-33, to help offset 19 turnovers.
Freshman Sarah Ashlee Barker added 10 off the bench for the Bulldogs, who have now won nine consecutive games at home against the Razorbacks.
The Razorbacks trailed by as many as nine in the first half, but they ended the half with a 9-2 spurt for a 39-39 halftime tie. They led 58-53 after three quarters and by as many as seven in the fourth but could not hold on.
The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 57% (17 of 30) from the floor in the first two quarters and also made more three-pointers (3-2) than the Razorbacks. But Arkansas stayed close by getting to the foul line, making 11 of 12 in the first half.
The Razorbacks will now host No. 3 and undefeated Connecticut at 4 p.m. Thursday at Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.