FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas women’s basketball team couldn’t get its offense going against Vanderbilt.
The Razorbacks needed several sparks. When Saylor Poffenbarger’s first-half ending three-pointer from the opposite side of the court didn’t do it, there was a sense that Arkansas wasn’t going to come back against Vanderbilt.
And, in the 62-53 loss in which a single-digit deficit felt like an abyss, it didn’t.
The Razorbacks shot 31.5% from the field and 7 of 30 from the three-point line. They went 12 of 18 from the free-throw line. Arkansas defended the Commodores well, holding them to 34% field-goal shooting and 25% from deep, but didn’t get the most meaningful stops down the stretch.
The Razorbacks didn’t score for the final 4:32.
“I don’t think it was anything that Vanderbilt did. I think it was just us,” said Arkansas guard Samara Spencer, who scored a game-high 19 points. “We really couldn’t get into a flow. … We had to claw our way out of a hole that we had already built.”
“Ran out of gas,” coach Mike Neighbors added. “The 4 minutes will stand out because we went scoreless and they kind of pulled away after we got it close, but there was a lot of opportunities throughout the game I thought we squandered a little bit.”
ESPN's latest NCAA Tournament projections had Vanderbilt as one of the last 4 teams in and the Razorbacks one of the first 4 out. The loss, as well as Thursday’s against Texas A&M, may have Arkansas’ Big Dance hopes on life support.
Neighbors said it: They all look at ESPN. They all look at the bracketology, even if Jackson State is listed twice.
“We’re in the postseason, I know that for a fact,” Neighbors said. “It’ll be our fifth straight year to do that.… Whether we end up in the NIT or the NCAA Tournament, I’ll keep focusing on that.”
But the fact remains: As things stand, Arkansas is on the outside looking in. Not many teams get in when having 31-23-66 splits in a crucial bubble game. Sunday — and really Thursday, too — was needed. But the Razorbacks lost because they couldn't get into an offensive rhythm.
“[Vanderbilt has] a great defensive team,” Neighbors said. “They’re hard to score against, always.… It was a combination of them and us, but you’ve got to give them credit. They’ve been a good defensive team ever since Coach [Shea] Ralph got there.”
The Razorbacks have shown electric offensive performances in other games. Others, they look like they did against Vanderbilt.
The “others" have them looking in at the NCAA Tournament field with little-to-no room for error in the remainder of the season. No. 1 South Carolina comes to Bud Walton Arena on Thursday.
“Opportunity, man,” Neighbors said. “We’ll give them a fair shot.”
And he’s right. A win over coach Dawn Staley’s currently perfect Gamecocks would do wonders for Arkansas’ hopes. A loss likely won’t change much given South Carolina’s standing.
But another offensive showing like Sunday — rhythm, flow or not — could spell disaster, Thursday or going forward, for Arkansas’ Tournament hopes. That is, if it hasn’t already.
“We’ll just play to the best of our abilities. Play our game,” Spencer said. “They are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason, so obviously it’ll be a tough battle, but hopefully with the crowd behind us and it being somewhat of a later game, we’ll have the advantage.”