The women’s basketball team had the unfortunate task of traveling to Arkansas to face the Razorbacks in Fayetteville, where the Wildcats took a 79-65 loss Wednesday evening.
The Wildcats were able to stay well within range of its SEC opponent, ending the first quarter down only 20-14, and the second quarter 34-24.
In the third quarter, the women sparked a 16-5 run that brought the deficit to four points at 51-47 with five second left to go. However, sophomore point guard Jailyn Mason connected on a buzzer-beating three pointer to make the score 54-47 going into the fourth quarter.
The buzzer-beater must have fired up the Razorbacks as the team went on a 20-3 run to start the fourth, which lasted until the 4:59 mark. The Wildcats put together a 13-5 run to close the game, but it wasn’t enough as Arkansas did more than enough to claim the victory, thanks to its big fourth quarter start.
Sophomore guard Dominique Golightly, who buried an impressive seven three-pointers and finished with 24 points, said consistency will be important moving forward.
“What I think our team has taken from the loss, is that if we have the solid energy and intensity we had coming out in the second half for four quarters straight, we will be hard to beat.” Golightly said
With the loss, the women now slip to 3-2 overall, while the win improves Arkansas to 5-2.
Up next for the Wildcats is Florida Gulf Coast University. The Eagles boast a 6-2 record so far this season, losing only to the eighth ranked Buckeyes of Ohio State, and Belmont University.
So far this season, Florida Gulf Coast has averaged 76.8 points per game, and has shot 42% from the field as a team. Senior forward Julien Rosemarie currently leads her team in scoring, posting 108 total points, and averaging 13.5 per game.
“Against Florida Gulf Coast, we look forward to correcting a lot of the mistakes we made in our last game, like live ball turnovers, and we know we need to bring four solid quarters together.” Golightly said.
The Wildcats will be back in Abilene to face the Eagles. Tip-off is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
