Razorbacks fall at Florida

Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors is shown during a game against LSU on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, in Fayetteville.

A late run by Arkansas was too little and too late at Florida on Thursday night.

The No. 17 Gators forced a season-high 20 Razorbacks turnovers and held Arkansas to just one three-pointer en route to a 76-67 victory in SEC women’s basketball at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.

Arkansas (16-9, 6-6 SEC) used a late 12-1 run to slice a 19-point deficit to 70-62 with less than a minute left. But Florida made 6 of 6 free throws to put the game away and notch its fifth straight win.

Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors gave the Gators’ defense all the credit for making his team uncomfortable. The Razorbacks tied their season-high for turnovers for a game (16) in the first half alone and made just 1 of 13 three-pointers.

“You’ve got to credit their game plan, their preparation, how they’ve been playing all year long,” Neighbors said. “They are the first team to really force us into things. We’ve done some things I think and I’m not telling you there haven’t been teams at times.

“But for the majority of the game, I just thought they dominated defensively, forced us to be either a little bit too fast, try to things we’re not used to doing too fast. And the 16 at half, it was demoralizing. It really was.”

Florida, which has now won 10 of its past 11, trailed only briefly and took control late in the first half. The Gators (20-6, 10-3) finished the second quarter with a 7-0 run to lead 43-29 at halftime

Arkansas never got the deficit down to single digits until Samara Spencer’s layup with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter pulled the Razorbacks within 69-60. But Florida made free throws late and it didn’t matter that the Gators went the final six-plus minutes without a field goal.

Neighbors said junior guard Makayla Daniels was available to play Thursday, but he made the call not to play her because he didn’t believe she was at 100%. Daniels, one of Arkansas’ top scorers, has missed the past three full games after suffering a knee injury in the second quarter of the Razorbacks’ 86-83 overtime loss at Tennessee on Jan. 31.

“We could have, but after talking to her and just judging what I know about Makayla, she was not going to be 100%,” Neighbors said. “As a coach, I can’t put her out there ’til she is, especially at this time of the year and in this environment. She’ll be back in practice [today] and we’ll keep re-evaluating her.

“I could have played her. I just didn’t feel like it was the right thing, coach’s decision. I’ll sleep fine with it. I would have loved to have had her obviously, but not at the expense of playing a player that might not be 100%, mentally and physically.”

Kiara Smith led four Gators in double figures with 19 points to go with 7 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists. Zippy Broughton, a transfer from Rutgers, added 15 and Emanuely de Oliviera contributed 15 points, a team-high 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Spencer, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time on Monday, led Arkansas with 19 points. Sasha Goforth chipped in 18 points, while 6-5 freshman Jersey Wolfenbarger added 15. Amber Ramirez was limited to just 10 points and did not make a three-point shot. The redshirt senior did grab a game-high 10 rebounds.

Neighbors said his team prepared well, it was just Florida is playing extremely well right now.

“We coached hard. We prepared hard. Our kids prepared hard,” Neighbors said. “We did all the things we’ve done all year long. The difference was Florida is doing it at a really high level. They have been doing it a really high level. It’s time for everybody to stop qualifying it with some whatever.

“Florida’s good. They’re really good and they were really good tonight.”

Arkansas returns home on Sunday to host Kentucky at 1 p.m. The Razorbacks have two home games remaining in the regular season, but will honor Amber Ramirez, the team’s lone senior, on Sunday.