Sooner Women Come Back on Arkansas to Avoid Upset

Originally Published: Dec 5, 2009 5:34 PM CDT

Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Amanda Thompson had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and made a layup on a baseline drive with 9 seconds left in overtime to lift No. 18 Oklahoma over Arkansas 87-86 on Saturday.

Danielle Robinson scored a career-high 31 points for Oklahoma (6-2), which had to survive shots by Arkansas' Lyndsay Harris and Ashley Daniels in the final seconds.

Oklahoma trailed 62-46 with 13 minutes left before Robinson fueled a comeback, scoring seven points and assisting on a 3-pointer by Nyeshia Stevenson during an 11-0 spurt that cut Arkansas' lead to 66-64 with 7:43 left.

Robinson also drove through traffic for a tying layup with three-tenths of a second left.

Sarah Watkins scored 18 points for Arkansas (5-2), which is playing nine of its first 12 games away from home and hadn't faced a ranked foe this season.

The Sooners are 2-1 this season against Southeastern Conference foes, having beaten South Carolina and losing to Georgia. Oklahoma will play SEC power Tennessee in January.

Oklahoma led 18-12 after Joanna McFarland's two free throws with 12:49 left in the first half. The Razorbacks then went on a 19-3 run over the next seven minutes -- which included a pair of 3-pointers by Charity Ford -- and led 31-21 at the 5:53 mark.

The Sooners twice cut that margin to five, but a flurry of Oklahoma fouls in the final two minutes allowed Arkansas to stretch its lead to 46-33 by halftime. The Razorbacks committed only three turnovers in the half.

After Arkansas built its 16-point lead, Stevenson pulled the Sooners within 70-69 with 4:44 left, but Sarah Watkins hit a 3-pointer for Arkansas, and Ford followed with two more, making it 79-73 with 2:48 left. The Razorbacks went 10 of 21 from 3-point range.

Thompson's two free throws with 29.9 seconds left sliced Arkansas' lead to 79-77. Lyndsay Harris and Jamesha Townsend both missed the front end of one-and-one free-throw opportunities in the final 18.3 seconds, allowing Oklahoma two chances to tie. Thompson missed a layup after Harris' miss but Robinson scored following Townsend's miss.

Robinson's final basket with 48 seconds left in overtime gave Oklahoma an 85-83 lead. Watkins made a 3-pointer to put Arkansas up 86-85 with 31 seconds left before Thompson's heroics.