FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A fight to the finish came down to a last-second shot, which Arkansas knocked down to pull off a 68-66 win over the Tigers Thursday night at Bud Walton Arena.
With the score tied 66-66, Arkansas ran an inbound play to leading scorer Amber Ramirez, who drove to the baseline and banked in a 10-foot jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining to give Arkansas the win.
Auburn led the majority of the game and never trailed until the fourth quarter, but Arkansas made clutch plays to win at the end.
"I was really proud of how my team came out and fought," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "I thought we came out and were really good offensively and defensively in the first half. We gave up some middle drives, but when you can hold an Arkansas team to 29 points in the first half, that's a pretty good job.
"But then Ramirez got hot in the second half, they started going to her, she exploited some mismatches, and she got going. But again, my team fought. We still had our chances. Then we had a bad turnover (at the end).
"We're getting closer and closer, so I am proud of my team how they came in here and fought. But very disappointed in the loss."
Honesty Scott-Grayson had a season-high 23 points along with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal. Jala Jordan hit three 3-pointers en route to a 13-point night, and Aicha Coulibaly added 12.
Both teams shot 41 percent from the floor. Arkansas overcame a poor-shooting first half to knock down five 3-pointers in the second half, four of them from Ramirez, who finished with a game-high 30 points. Auburn had a solid night at the free-throw line, hitting 13-of-16, and the Tigers out-rebounded Arkansas 38-36.
Auburn came out firing, jumping out to a 15-7 lead midway through the first quarter on the strength of Scott-Grayson knocking down four of her first five shots. The Tigers would lead 19-15 after one. It would be 36-29 at halftime on the strength of a pair of Jordan 3-pointers and a 4-for-5 stretch at the free-throw line.
The Tigers would extend their lead to as many as 10 in the third quarter, but after the Razorbacks cut it to four, Scott-Grayson scored her 20th point of the night on a buzzer-beating layup to make it 55-49 Tigers after three.
Arkansas took its first lead after a technical on the Auburn bench with 5:14 to play. They knocked down a pair of free throws to move ahead 59-58, then scored on the ensuing play to take a 3-point lead.
The Tigers moved back in front at the two-minute mark with a steal by Mar'Shaun Bostic that led to a fast-break layup for Scott-Grayson, making it 64-63. An Arkansas foul under a minute gave Auburn another chance to take the lead as Sania Wells hit a pair of free throws to push the Auburn lead to 66-65.
After an Arkansas free throw tied the game at 66-all, Auburn had the ball with an opportunity to hold for the last shot. But a loose ball was tied up, the arrow went to Arkansas with 3.5 seconds left, and they ran the play to win the game.
Auburn returns to action Monday night, Feb. 14, as the Tigers host the Florida Gators at 6 p.m. It's the annual Play4Kay Pink Game, and fans are encouraged to wear pink. Harris and associate head coach Bob Starkey will make a donation to the Kay Yow Foundation for every student that attends next Monday's game; Harris will donate $2 per student and Starkey will contribute $1 per student.
