No. 18 South Carolina women defeat Arkansas 43-40

- Christina's Blog

FAYETTEVILLE (AP) - Ashley Bruner scored 11 points and No. 18 South Carolina held off Arkansas 43-40 on Sunday.

South Carolina (18-3, 6-2 Southeastern), which has won four in a row, didn't score after Aleighsa Welch's 3-point play made it 43-36 Gamecocks with 3:44 to play. But Arkansas' last points came on Calli Berna's 3-pointer with 59 seconds to go.

Bruner also had seven assists and five steals. Tiffany Mitchell had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Gamecocks, off to their best SEC start since 2001-02.

Arkansas (14-6, 2-5) was led by Jhasmin Bowen with 13 points. Berna and Quistelle Williams each had 10 rebounds for the Razorbacks.

South Carolina has allowed 60 or more points in a game only once this season, ranking third in the nation in scoring defense entering the week.