LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The University of Arkansas women's basketball team fell to Vanderbilt 78-70 Thursday night at the Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., for its fifth loss in its last six games.
Senior guard Makayla Daniels led the Razorbacks (18-8, 5-6 SEC) with a season-high 31 points on 11-of-23 shooting. She also made four of Arkansas's seven three-pointers and hauled in three rebounds.
Arkansas redshirt senior guard Chrissy Carr delivered 18 points and five rebounds, while redshirt senior forward Erynn Barnum added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Vanderbilt (11-14, 2-9) came out hot to start the game, making seven of its first 10 shots to take an 18-9 lead with 4:06 to play in the first quarter.
Commodores graduate guard Marnelle Garraud, who scored a team-high 19 points on 50% shooting from the floor, nailed a fastbreak three-pointer with 8:08 to play in the second quarter to give Vanderbilt a 21-17 lead.
The Commodores led for 36:51 and held Arkansas to 41.9% shooting from the field, including 26.9% from three.
Arkansas trailed 37-32 at the half and took the lead after a Daniels three made it 47-46 with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.
However, Vanderbilt responded with a 9-2 run to take a 55-49 lead at the end of the quarter, capped by a pair of free throws from freshman guard Ryanne Allen.
Drawing fouls and getting free throws was a big difference-maker in the loss for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks finished 11-of-16 from the free throw line, but only shot four total free throws in the second half. On the other side, the Commodores shot 17-of-22 from the free line with 20 of their attempts coming in the final 20 minutes.
Daniels kept her foot on the gas for Arkansas and kept the team in it. The senior made a pair of layups and a free throw, followed by a layup from Barnum to cut Vanderbilt's lead to 66-64 with 2:26 left to play in the fourth quarter.
Like they did all game though, the Commodores answered with a run of their own.
Vanderbilt put together a 12-2 run to close out the contest to seal its second SEC victory of the season.
Arkansas allowed the Commodores to shoot 46.2% from the field and 38.9% from three.
The Razorbacks return to action on Sunday with a home game against Missouri. Coverage from Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville begins at 2 p.m. Central on the SEC Network.