Little Rock Dominates the Paint but No. 12 Razorbacks Rely on 3-Pointers in 80-70 Decision

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Brianna Crane led all players with a career-high 27 points, Krystan Vornes added a double-double and Little Rock pushed the 12^th-ranked Razorbacks all four quarters in an 80-70 loss Saturday afternoon in front of 1,061 at the Jack Stephens Center.
 
Little Rock (4-3), which held No. 12/12 Arkansas to more than 13 points under its season average, was led by the career-best 27 points from Crane. And on the glass the Razorbacks (8-1) seemingly had no answer for the feisty Vornes' relentless effort on the boards as she grabbed a game-high 13 boards to go with her 12 points. It was the first time Arkansas had ever played a regular season game on another campus in the state of Arkansas.
 
No Razorback reached double digits in rebounds and the Trojans posted a plus-10 rebound margin (36-26) in the game but Arkansas carried itself behind an impressive 14 made baskets from 3-point range, comprising half of their made shots. Chelsea Dungee led the way with 18 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc.
 
Little Rock countered with 54 of its 70 points in the paint, 16 of which came on second chance opportunities.
 
"We fought our hearts out, we hung in there and tried to keep fighting back but they kept hitting threes and they are a heckuva offensive basketball team," Little Rock head coach Joe Foley said.
 
Crane led the Trojans in scoring and kept getting better as the game went along, scoring 19 of her 27 points in the second half. Her turnaround jumper cut the Razorback lead to five to open the third quarter before Vornes made it a three-point game with a layup less than a minute later.
 
"She missed a few shots early but I told her to keep going to the hole because we've gotta have you," Foley said of Crane.
 
Arkansas would regroup and push its lead out to 20 points before Little Rock began to whittle away at the deficit once again. The Razorbacks led by 11 with 47 seconds to go before Bre'Amber Scott drained a 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to eight before a pair of free throws extended the difference back to 10 points. The Razorbacks would grab one final defensive rebound and elected to run out the clock with Neighbors and Foley showing their respect for one another across the court as time expired.
 
Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors, who earlier in the week likened playing the Joe Foley coached Trojans to going to the proctologist and dentist in the same day, immediately added to that list in the postgame press conference.
 
"I definitely need to add to my list, from earlier in the week, that facing a Joe Foley team is also like going to the DMV in addition to the other things," quipped Neighbors following his team's close win. "It is an excruciating thing to prepare for and then to have to physically do."
 
But despite his joking manner, he knew his team received as strong a test as any Saturday.
 
"I would not like to see them in the tournament at any point along the way," Neighbors said of the Trojans.
 
Little Rock has completed its non-conference schedule and is now set to open Sun Belt Conference play on Jan. 1 at UT Arlington. Arkansas will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff Monday to wrap up it's non-conference slate then open Southeastern Conference play at Kentucky on Dec. 31.
 
For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockWBB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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