Arkansas Bogged Down in Second Half at No. 6 LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Razorbacks (11-11, 0-7 SEC) trailed No. 6 LSU (20-2, 5-2 SEC) by three points at halftime, but were outscored 56-37 in the second half.

The Tigers ran away with it via a 33-point third quarter on 71% (12-17) shooting from the field.

First Quarter – 22-22

• LSU won the tip and scored through Grace Knox in the paint on its first possession of the game.
• Arkansas took nearly the entire shot clock on its first possession that ended with a banked-in three from Bonnie Deas.
• Emily Robinson hit the Hogs’ second three to make it 8-4 early.
• Arkansas was 3-5 from three and led 15-10 at the first quarter media timeout.
• Deas hit another three out of the timeout to put the Hogs up 18-12.
• The Tigers hit their first three at the 2:08 mark and cut it to two points at 20-18.
• Arkansas was scoreless from the field for the final 3:27 and LSU tied the game at 22-22.
• The Tigers had five more attempts (23) than Arkansas (18) from the field.
• Deas finished the quarter with 8 points, 3 rebounds and two assists.

Second Quarter – 33-36

• Maria Anais Rodriguez had an and-1 to start the quarter. The sophomore finished the game 5-7 from the field and had 11 points.
• LSU grabbed its first lead since the 9:02 mark in the first quarter at 26-25.
• Arkansas trailed 27-28 at the media timeout. Both teams were on two-plus-minute scoring droughts.
• The Tigers jumped out to a five-point lead out of the timeout, their largest of the game to this point.
• Deas snapped the Razorbacks’ nearly six-minute drought from the field with 1:14 left in the half. The freshman entered double figures for the second straight game.

Third Quarter – 50-69

• LSU opened the second half on an 11-0 run before Robinson hit a three at the 6:59 mark to make it 36-47 Tigers.
• The Hogs had four turnovers in the first five minutes after having eight the entire first half.
• Arkansas missed four straight free throws with under two minutes to play.
• The Tigers ended the quarter with back-to-back layups to push their lead to 19 points.
• LSU pressed Arkansas for much of the quarter and the Hogs finished with seven turnovers.
• Deas was held scoreless in the third.
• The Tigers shot 71% (12-17) from the field, with four threes.

Fourth Quarter – 70-92

• Junior Jenna Lawrence hit three straight threes to cut LSU’s lead to 13 with seven minutes to play.
• Two minutes later, LSU led 86-65 at the media timeout.
• The Tigers started the fourth with seven straight makes after missing their first two from the field.
• Lawrence went 4-7 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter.

Game Notes

• Arkansas’ 33 points in the first half were the most against an SEC opponent this season.
• The Hogs’ three-point deficit at the half was their smallest halftime deficit of the season.
• Jones surpassed the 20-point mark for the eighth time this season and led all scorers with 23 points.
• Jones tied her season high with five threes on 11 attempts.
• Arkansas had an SEC-play high 13 threes and took 31 attempts.
• LSU had six players in double figures, led by guards Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams with 17 points each. Forward Kate Koval finished with 15 rebounds and 12 points for the game’s only double-double.

Up Next

The Hogs will host No. 18 Kentucky on Sunday, Feb. 1 at Bud Walton Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised live on SEC Network with Chuckie Kempf (play-by-play) and Charli Turner Thorne (analyst) on the call. The Wildcats were idle on Thursday.

For more information on Arkansas women’s basketball, follow @RazorbackWBB on social media.