FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas women’s basketball (7-2) dropped its contest to No. 2 UCLA, 81-66, on Sunday. UCLA used two big runs in the second and third quarters, including a 15-0 run midway through the second quarter to speed past the Hogs. Arkansas made a surge in the fourth quarter with a 15-0 run of their own, but it was too little too late. Arkansas had four players in double figures, led by Taliah Scott’s 23 points and Maryam Dauda’s 14. The Hogs broke an eight-game home winning streak in the loss.
After Dauda won the tip against a 6-7 center, Saylor Poffenbarger got the Hogs on the board first by knocking down a triple. Dauda then got one of her own off a good find from Samara Spencer to help the Hogs start ahead, 6-0. UCLA got on the board with a layup, scoring their first basket over 2.5 minutes into the game, but Scott answered with a layup. The Bruins then started to roll, going on a 9-0 run, while making four of their next four field goal attempts, as the Hogs trailed 11-8 at the media timeout taken with 4:56 left in the quarter. UCLA continued its run out of the timeout with back-to-back layups to extend its run to an 11-0 one, while Arkansas was held in a scoring drought for 4.5 minutes. Makayla Daniels snapped that drought with a layup and Poffenbarger followed with one of her own to cut the UCLA lead to three. UCLA outscored the Hogs 5-2 in the final two minutes of the quarter, as the Hogs trailed, 20-14, after the first quarter.
Off a second-chance opportunity thanks to a Dauda rebound, Daniels knocked down a triple to cut the lead to three, but then UCLA went on an 17-2 run to lead, 37-19 at the media timeout taken with 4:59 left in the half. Out of the break, UCLA scored another two-pointer to extend its run to a 19-2 one, but Emrie Ellis knocked down a 3-pointer to drag the Hogs out of the scoring drought that was nearly four minutes long. Dauda knocked down her second triple of the game and followed with a driving layup to cut the lead to 16. Scott then got fouled and made the first shot but missed the second. Poffenbarger was there for the offensive board and beat the buzzer once again with a triple, as Arkansas trailed 50-33 at the half.
UCLA outscored the Hogs 12-5 in the opening four minutes of the third quarter. Scott made a tough layup and at the media timeout taken with 4:45 left in the quarter, Arkansas trailed, 64-40. Poffenbarger made a driving layup, but then UCLA went on a 6-0 run to lead by 30, 72-42. Scott got fouled and made both free throws to reach double digits in scoring for the ninth straight game. At the end of the quarter, Arkansas trailed, 72-44, trailing by as many as 30.
Scott made two free throws, her sixth and seventh of the game, to begin the scoring in the fourth quarter. Dauda made a layup off a good find from Carly Keats, as Arkansas trailed, 74-48, with 7:27 left in the game. UCLA and Arkansas exchanged 3-pointers, as Scott made back-to-back-to-back triples and was fouled on the second to convert the 4-point play. Scott helped the Hogs go on a 10-0 run. Arkansas’ run continued, as Daniels made one of two free throws, and Arkansas trailed 77-59 with 4:50 left in the game. Out of the timeout, Arkansas’ run extended to a 15-0 run with a Dauda jumper and two free throws. UCLA broke its 3:34 minute scoring drought with a layup. Arkansas did not score a field goal for the remaining 4:24 of the contest, but the Hogs outscored the Bruins 22-9 in the fourth quarter to drop the game, 81-66.