Washington hits 24 Ervin pulls double-double as Lady'Backs down Auburn

AUBURN – Junior Lauren Ervin set a school record in leading the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks to a 65-62 win over the Auburn Tigers in Southeastern Conference women’s basketball.

Arkansas, 16-3, moved to 1-2 SEC play while Auburn, 14-5, lost its second straight home game in conference action to also drop to 1-2.

Dominique Washington led all scorers with 24 points, coming within two three-pointers of the school record as the senior hit seven of 11 from behind the arc, including a rare four-point play.

The game saw one of the best post performances in several seasons by a Lady Razorback as Ervin hit her first nine field goals for a new career high 19 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the year.

Ervin’s nine-of-nine set a new UA mark for field goal percentage in a SEC game.

Ervin and Washington set the tone in the first half, but Arkansas rallies were the key as the Lady’Backs came back in the final minutes after establishing an early lead.

“It was in my mind that this was a huge, huge game,” UA head coach Susie Gardner said. “We hit some bumps in the road, but today I did something a little different by going with several players for over 30 minutes. But we had to find the combination that had heart.”

In the closing minutes, Ervin hit her ninth shot to put Arkansas ahead, 63-62, in the 10th lead change of the game.

Auburn couldn’t manage a score in the closing moments, and fouled Leslie Howard with 4.1 seconds left. The senior played one minute in the game, and calmly sank both free throws for the final margin.

Lady’Backs cut the Auburn lead to four, 46-42, but squandered three straight turnovers by the Tigers. Arkansas unable to take the lead despite cutting the margin to one twice before the first two-pointer of the game by Washington gave Arkansas the lead 51-50 with 8:40.

The shot came as a part of a 7-2 run by the Lady’Backs to lead by three, 53-50, after a Sarah Pfiefer jumper

DeWanna Bonner took over for the Tigers hitting three straight to take the lead before Washington hit a four-point play to return the lead to Arkansas.

Boddie responded with back-to-back layups to put Auburn back ahead by two, 62-60.

Washington jumped on Auburn from the tip with three quick three-pointers to fuel an early 12-8 Arkansas lead. But only Washington and Ervin managed to score more than a single field goal for Arkansas as the Lady’Backs struggled from the field.

Meanwhile Auburn launched a 13-2 run to take control of the game, 30-20, with 3:54 left in the half. Washington’s fourth three-pointer snapped the run, but the Lady’Backs’ traded buckets with Auburn the balance of the half.

Ervin’s sixth jumper cut into the Auburn lead before half, 38-31, and left her one rebound away from a double-double in the first 20 minutes with 13 points and nine boards.

While Washington and Ervin combined for 25 of Arkansas’ 31 first half points, the rest of the Lady’Backs shot a mere 2-of-17 from the field.

Defense was a struggle as the Lady’Backs had zero points of turnovers in the first half while Auburn picked up 11 of its 38.