Late Mizzou comeback falls short at Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Women's Basketball cut a 20-point deficit down to five points late in the fourth quarter but was unable to completely close the gap on Sunday evening at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas held on to defeat Mizzou 75-68 to sweep its two regular season meetings with the Tigers.

You can watch the full postgame press conference with head coach Robin Pingeton in the video player below.

After Mizzou led for the entire first quarter and built a lead as large as nine points, the Razorbacks took their first lead to start the second quarter off a three-pointer from Carly Keats. Arkansas proceeded to extend its lead to as many as 20 points at the 7:21-mark of the final quarter.

The Tigers rallied late in the contest, stringing together a 15-1 scoring run to cut the deficit down to six points with about three minutes left. Mizzou pulled within five points of tying the game after a layup from Mama Dembele but could not overcome the 20-point fourth quarter deficit.

Pingeton's crew has now lost seven straight games in SEC play and holds a 2-10 record in conference action.

Hayley Frank returned to the starting lineup after missing the last three games due to injury. Frank dropped a game-high 22 points and grabbed six rebounds. Mama Dembele, Ashton Judd and Grace Slaughter also finished in double figures, but Mizzou only scored two points off the bench. Pingeton's starters all played at least 31 of the 40 minutes in this game.

Up next - Mizzou closes out its two-game road trip with a matchup against Florida in Gainesville. That contest is scheduled to start on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m.