UA women tie up Vanderbilt 59-56
FAYETTEVILLE - All-Southeastern Conference senior forward Jessica Jackson tied up Arkansas’ victory in a possession arrow-favored, loose-ball scramble with five seconds left, and Devin Cosper stretched it with two free throws for a 59-56 triumph over Vanderbilt Thursday night at Walton Arena.
Twice sinking one of two free throws, Arkansas sophomore point guard Malica Monk tied the game at 1:29 and put the Razorbacks up 57-56 with 11 seconds to go after center Alecia Cooley blocked a Vanderbilt shot.
Jackson dove to the floor to tie up the loose ball that Vandy’s Christa Reed could not corral off a deflected pass
Reed missed two free throws with 24 seconds left when fouled by Arkansas’ Jailyn Mason after stealing from the Arkansas guard.
Mason otherwise played superbly leading all scorers with 17 points while grabbing six rebounds, Cosper scoring 11.
Vandy’s Rachel Bell launched a desperation shot that missed after Cosper’s free throws
completed an 18-8 Arkansas fourth quarter after the Razorbacks trailed 48-41.
“Arkansas definitely outplayed us in the fourth quarter,” Vanderbilt coach Stephanie White said. “They beat us to the loose balls and made the 50-50 plays, the hustle plays they needed, to make to win the ballgame. We have a small margin for error and Arkansas pounced on that.”
Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes relished the opposing coach’s comment about his team’s tenacity.
“Her team played hard,” Dykes said. “But I don’t think they played harder than us tonight. It’s a good step forward for our young team.”
Coming off an SEC victory at Alabama, Arkansas is 13-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference heading into Monday’s 6 p.m. game here against Missouri.
Vanderbilt, led by Reed’s 12 points with Bell scoring 11 and Marqu’es Webb scoring 10, dropped to 10-9 overall and 0-6 in the SEC.
“It’s the same kind of finish we had last year when I think we beat them on a putback at the buzzer,” Dykes said. “If there is a better team in the nation that’s 0-6 in their league I would like to know who it is. That’s a good team, but after they were five of nine on threes in the first half we didn’t let them make another one.”