The Arkansas women's team lost its shooting touch at the wrong time Thursday night.
Vanderbilt took advantage of Arkansas' struggles from the field over the final 10 minutes to pull out a 55-53 victory in front of an estimated crowd of 2,685 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn.
Arkansas led for nearly 36 minutes and held a 49-37 edge at the 10:14 mark in the second half, but it managed just four points -- all from the free-throw line -- the rest of the way as it missed its last 18 shots from the field.
Vanderbilt took its first lead of the game with 1:48 to go on a runner by Rebekah Dahlman, but the Razorbacks (11-7, 1-5 SEC) still had an opportunity to win in the final moments.
Vanderbilt's Morgan Batey made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line with 8 seconds to go and Arkansas sophomore Jessica Jackson grabbed the rebound. But Jackson's three-point attempt from the top of the key rimmed out as the Commodores held on for their third victory in the past four games.
Arkansas sophomore Kelsey Brooks led all scorers with 20 points -- the fifth time she's had at least 20 in a game this season -- but she was the only Razorbacks player to reach double figures. Jhasmin Bowen added nine points, but no other Razorbacks player managed more than six as Arkansas shot 35.7 percent from the field compared to Vanderbilt's 44.9 percent.
Jackson was tied with Bowen as Arkansas' second-leading scorer going into the game with an average of 14.3 points per game, but the Commodores held her to three points on 1-of-7 shooting.
Rachel Bell and Kristen Gaffney led Vanderbilt (11-8, 2-4) with 11 points each. Batey finished with nine points, while Marqu'es Webb and Paris Kea chipped in eight points each.
Junior Melissa Wolff led Arkansas with seven rebounds, but Vanderbilt outrebounded Arkansas 35-34. It marked only the fifth time all season the Razorbacks have been outrebounded.
Calli Berna hit a three-pointer from the corner as time expired in the first half to give Arkansas a 32-23 lead going into the break. Arkansas made five of its first seven shots and led by as many as 12 with six minutes left in the opening half, when it shot 48.3 percent from the field compared to Vanderbilt's 40 percent shooting.
Arkansas takes on Florida at 11 a.m. Central Sunday in Gainesville, Fla. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Sports on 01/23/2015