SEC WOMEN

Arkansas women ice cold in loss

Arkansas forward Kiara Williams (10) and Georgia's Pachis Roberts (11) fight for a loose ball Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, during their game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Caliya Robinson scored a game-high 20 points and added 9 rebounds and 7 blocks to lead Georgia past Arkansas 69-66 at Walton Arena on Thursday.

Arkansas trailed 63-50 with 5:12 left before rallying in the closing minutes. The Razorbacks pulled to within two points in the final minute before a Jessica Jackson three-point attempt for a tie missed seconds before the final buzzer.

"We literally outplayed them in every area, I think, other than we just couldn't shoot the ball," said Arkansas Coach Jimmy Dykes, whose team made 22 of 79 (27.8 percent) from the floor. "You look at the stat sheet, we got 22 more shots than Georgia. And we're 12 of 23 from the free-throw line, and we got 24 offensive rebounds and only turned it over nine times.

"So I was proud of how we fought. But at the end of the day, you shoot 27 percent, I don't know who you're going to beat."

The Razorbacks (13-9, 2-7 SEC) used 3 three-pointers early in the second quarter to race to a 27-19 lead. From there, the Bulldogs turned the tables with production in the post. Robinson, a 6-3 sophomore, and Shanea Armbrister, a 6-2 junior, combined for 34 points and 17 rebounds.

"We thought we could take advantage of our size," Georgia Coach Joni Taylor said. "That's what we were able to do, get it inside to Caliya and to [Halle] Washington and our other bigs, and they hit some shots and they also kicked it back out for some open looks."

Georgia (11-11, 3-6) finished the second quarter on 15-5 run for a 34-32 lead at halftime.

Arkansas struggled to score from everywhere on the court after scoring 27 points in the first 13 minutes of the game.

"We just couldn't get anyone going on offense," Dykes said. "You look at the shots we took. We took 79 shots and maybe five or six were shots not wanted. But we missed transition layups, and so many missed shots like that and you look back in a close game like this and they're heartbreaking for our team right now."

Guard Pachis Roberts added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Georgia, and MacKenzie Engram chipped in 7 points and 6 rebounds.

Jackson led Arkansas with 26 points, hitting 11 of 16 free throws but only connecting on 6 of 23 from the field. Starters Bailey Zimmerman, Malica Monk and Jailyn Mason combined for 20 points on 8-of-32 shooting.

Arkansas will host South Carolina on Sunday.

Sports on 02/03/2017