FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas women’s basketball team was without three starters Thursday night, but Amber Ramirez made sure the Razorbacks still picked up a win.
The redshirt senior scored a game-high 30 points and hit a runner with 0.3 seconds left that gave the Razorbacks a 68-66 win over Auburn at Walton Arena.
Ramirez, the lone senior on the roster, had a shot blocked less than a minute earlier, but told Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors she wanted another chance. She got it when Rylee Langerman forced a jump ball and the Razorbacks got the possession with 3.5 seconds left.
After a timeout to advance the ball, the 5-9 guard from San Antonio took the inbound pass, drove to the basket and put up the game winner.
“I told Nabes I messed up the first one and I’m going to get this one back for sure,” said Ramirez, who played all 40 minutes. “I wanted the ball in my hands. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to put the team on my back.
“We ran the play to a ‘T’ and we got the right shot.”
Junior Makayla Daniels missed her second game because of a knee injury suffered in the second quarter at Tennessee on Jan. 31. But Jersey Wolfenbarger and Samara Spencer were also unavailable.
Neighbors didn’t comment directly on why Wolfenbarger and Spencer were out, but Razorbacks radio play-by-play man Phil Elson posted on Twitter that they were in covid-19 protocols.
Neighbors said following the game that it was possible Wolfenbarger and Spencer could be available for Sunday’s game at Missouri.
Freshman Emrie Ellis pitched in with valuable minutes off the bench, but she praised Ramirez for her efforts, especially considering the situation.
“Unbelievable. She stepped up exactly when we needed her,” Ellis said. “We kind of had some issues obviously with our team, but I’m really proud of Amber. I wouldn’t want to play with anyone else but Amber. … She knows when she needs to be the leader and when she needs to be the scorer, and that was tonight.”
Neighbors said he couldn’t have been proud of his team’s performance, particularly under the circumstances.
“As proud as I’ve ever been of any team that I’ve ever coached,” said Neighbors, whose team trailed by as many as 10 in the second half. “Any level. Any year. Any situation. Because of the situation. Because of injury to Mak and sickness to a couple of other people and a quick turnaround and all the things that had been going wrong.
“To then be able to refocus and regroup and hang in there throughout the game and find a way to win it. Really, really proud. If you can’t love this team, you’re not paying much attention because they are very, very lovable.”
Ramirez scored 22 points in the second half and was 4 of 4 on three-pointers in the final two quarters. She finished with five three-pointers. Sasha Goforth was also in double figures with 16 and Ellis 11.
Auburn Coach Johnnie Harris said Ramirez getting going in the second half was a key difference in the game.
“I thought Ramirez got hot in the second half,” Harris said. “They started going to her. She exploited some mismatches and she got going. And once you see that ball going through, a shooter like that. You know, it’s hard to deal with her already. I just thought she came back and was really special in the second half.”
Arkansas (15-8, 5-5 SEC) trailed most of the game, taking its first lead at 59-58 on two free throws by Ramirez after a technical foul was called on Harris with 5:14 left in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers (9-13, 1-10) took their final lead at 66-65 on two free throws by Sania Wells with 53 seconds left. Goforth made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game two seconds later.
Honesty Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 23 points, while Jala Jordan added 13, including four three-pointers. Aicha Coulibaly added 12.
Scott-Grayson scored nine of Auburn’s first 13 points to get the Tigers off to a lead. Auburn led by as many as eight in the first half and never trailed before halftime.
Arkansas pulled within 30-27 on Goforth’s driving layup with 3:05 left before halftime. But Neighbors was whistled for a technical foul less than a minute later after a foul was called on Goforth.
The Tigers made 3 of 4 free throws in that sequence to push the lead back to 33-27 and settled for a 36-29 halftime advantage.
Arkansas hits the road next in league play, traveling to Missouri on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.