By Charlie Terenzio
USF Communications
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Close, but no cigar.
The Bulls had an opportunity to close out a win in overtime against Arkansas Saturday, but turned it over down two with under a minute to play as they fell 65-61 to the Razorbacks.
USF came from behind late to force overtime as Caitlin Rowe grabbed a rebound and put it back to tie the game at 56-56 at the end of regulation, but the Bulls couldn't take advantage in the extra period.
“You don't lose games in the final minute of overtime,” head coach Jose Fernandez said after the loss. “There were so many opportunities to win this game early on, but we couldn't do it.”
Arkansas jumped out early in the overtime period 62-56, but the Bulls wouldn't go away.
USF cut the lead 62-58 a driving layup by Jasmine Wynne with 50 seconds left, and closed the gap to one after Tahira Johnson hit the first of two free throws.
Johnson missed the second, but Tiffany Conner was there to grab the rebound and put it back for the bucket cutting the Razorback lead to 62-61 with 21 seconds left in the extra period.
C'eira Ricketts, a preseason All-SEC selection who scored a game-high 28, went to the line with 15 seconds left and hit the first free throw but missed the second, giving USF a chance to tie with just seconds to play.
Andrell Smith took the ball up the right sideline, but forced a pass to Saunders which was picked off by Arkansas killing squashing the Bulls hopes for another comeback.
“We were able to be resilient late in the game and had an opportunity after the miss. I don't know why we chose to take it up the sideline, but that is something we will address,” Fernandez said.
Smith did rebound from her season debut, as the senior went for 12 points and added nine rebounds on the night. The star offensively was Saunders who went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe as part of a 16 point performance, all of which came in the second half.
Caitlin Rowe continued her strong play in the post as she followed up her 19-point performance against No. 14 FSU with a 14-rebound night against Arkansas.
USF will look to get in the win column Sunday as they close out the WBI Tipoff Tournament against another major conference opponent at 4:30 p.m.
“We have to bounce right back because we have another quality opponent in Minnesota tomorrow,” Fernandez said.
