Lexi Hughes’ jumper in the lane with one second left broke a tie game and Jessica Jackson’s missed three-pointer at the buzzer cemented the Arkansas women’s basketball team’s first loss of the season.
Hughes’ jumper at the last second held off an Arkansas rally in Missouri State’s 64-62 victory at JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo. It was the Razorbacks’ first loss after nine consecutive victories.
The Bears (3-6) led 52-47 at the end of the third quarter and had a 61-57 advantage with 1:15 left. But Malica Monk’s jumper with 53 seconds left and Keiryn Swenson’s three-point play tied it at 62-62 with 11 seconds left to set up Hughes’ shot.
Devin Cosper, four days after scoring 13 points against Butler, had a season-high 18 points for the Razorbacks, who are off to their best start in three seasons. Malica Monk added 14 points and Jackson had 11. The Razorbacks were held to a season-low 30.8 percent shooting.
Liza Fruendt had 23 points and Aubrey Buckley had 14 points, both season highs, for Missouri State, which entered the game having lost consecutive games to UALR, at Missouri and at Oral Roberts. Fruendt made 5 of 9 three-pointers for the Bears, who made 8 of 21 as a team.
The Razorbacks jumped to an 11-3 lead after two free throws from Jackson halfway through the first quarter. They led 18-15 at the end of the quarter. The teams traded the lead six times in the second quarter before Arkansas went into halftime with a 33-30 lead.
An 8-2 run early in the third quarter put Missouri State up 38-37, and after a Bailey Zimmerman jumper put Arkansas up 39-38, Fruendt’s three put the Bears up 41-39 with 5:30 left in the quarter. The Razorbacks didn’t lead again while trying to keep the Bears from running away. They fell behind 52-45 late in the quarter and got within two points twice and tying it twice. Tied at 57-57 with 2:08 left, Cosper missed a jumper and Missouri State scored on consecutive possessions to take back the lead.
The Razorbacks complete their nonconference schedule with home games against Northwestern (La.) State (Dec. 18), Oral Roberts (Dec. 21) and Houston Baptist (Dec. 28).