During the third quarter, tempers began to flare. Daniels and Vanderbilt freshman forward Khamil Pierre were assessed double technical fouls with 5:15 left in the quarter. Daniels made a driving layup later in the quarter and was fouled to pull the Razorbacks within 40-32 but was assessed an unsportsmanlike technical foul, which resulted in her ejection.
Neighbors walked with his fifth-year guard down the tunnel and to the locker room. The seventh-year Arkansas coach said he contemplated not returning to the sideline.
“We ran out of gas,” Neighbors said. “We spent so much energy trying to come back and got it kind of going our way. They did start kind of matching up and it’s really hard to tell what they’re in because they changed defenses so much. We got a stagnant a little bit, and we obviously missed some key people down the stretch that are used to finishing games.”
Neither team led by more than four points in a low-scoring, back-and-forth first half that saw five lead changes. Arkansas snatched momentum entering halftime when Saylor Poffenbarger banked in a three-fourths court heave that drew the Razorbacks within 24-23.
“There was so much emotion,” Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said. “There was obviously a heightened sense before the game because we all read ESPN.com and look at Bracketology and all that. … It makes it a big important game. But it was going to be heightened. Our games with [Vanderbilt] are always heightened.”
The Commodores’ defense handcuffed the Razorbacks. Arkansas scored a season-low 53 points and shot 17 of 54 (31.5%), 7 of 30 (23.3%) from three-point range and 12 of 18 (66.7%) from the free-throw line.