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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas weathered the initial surge, built a double-digit cushion and then desperately hung on down the stretch to secure the biggest regular-season win in program history Thursday.

Led by Chelsea Dungee’s 37 points, the No. 19 Razorbacks dominated the third quarter and did just enough in the final 10 minutes to pull out a 90-87 win over No. 3 UConn at Bud Walton Arena.

It was the second top-five victory for Arkansas this season, as it also knocked off then-No. 4 Baylor in the Big 12/SEC Challenge in Fayetteville last month, but this one was even more significant because the Huskies are the premier program in women’s basketball.

The Razorbacks improved to 12-6 with the win, while it was UConn’s first loss in 11 games this season.

“I can’t even explain it to you,” Dungee said when asked about how it felt to beat the Huskies. “It was just one of those feelings that… I don’t even know the words. I can’t find them. I’m just so happy for our program and for our state. I think that was a huge momentum swing for the rest of the season. I think we needed that.”

Despite a 21-point swing between the 3:28 mark in the second quarter, when UConn took a 38-30 lead, and the 2:45 mark in the third quarter, when Arkansas went up 65-52, it was a tight game most of the night. There were three separate ties and eight lead changes.

Head coach Mike Neighbors couldn’t have drawn up a better start for his squad.

The Razorbacks forced a turnover on the opening possession and Dungee turned it into a bucket on the other end. That began a 4-of-5 stretch to open the game in which Dungee, Amber Ramirez and Makayla Daniels each knocked down a three-pointer.

However, it resulted in just an 11-7 lead for Arkansas because UConn started out just as hot. The Huskies actually made 8 of their first 9 shots, with Little Rock native Christyn Williams scoring their first six points.

It wasn’t until midway through the first quarter that UConn finally overtook the Razorbacks, whose shooting cooled off, on the scoreboard. In fact, a 10-0 run actually gave the Huskies a six-point lead.

Arkansas stayed within striking distance by forcing six turnovers, but also contributed to UConn’s 22-18 lead by committing six of their own in the first quarter.

“We were a little nervous,” Neighbors said. “Listen, UConn walk out here with uniforms that only one team in the country has and sweats that only one team in the country has and a letter from Kobe Bryant’s daughter on their warm-up shirt. You can’t help but be down a few points.”

Luckily for the Razorbacks, they settled down after that and had only three more turnovers the rest of the game.

That helped them get into an offensive rhythm. Arkansas shot 52.6 percent from the floor and actually briefly took the lead twice, but the Huskies answered each time.

The last of those came in the closing seconds, when Ramirez made a jumper with 25 seconds left in the half to cap a 7-0 spurt that gave the Razorbacks a 41-40 lead, but Aubrey Griffin responded with a three-pointer in the closing seconds to make it 43-41 at the half.

Trailing at the half wasn’t ideal, of course, but being within two points was what Neighbors was hoping for - especially considering the Huskies shot a blistering 59.3 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc. They also hadn’t been in too many close games, winning their first 10 games by an average of 36.6 points.

“UConn, they don’t always get a chance to see their own blood sometimes, because they’re not in many close games,” Neighbors said. “We just felt like if we could keep it close and hang around, we have been in so many just these last couple of months.”

Arkansas took control in the third quarter.

Dungee scored on a couple of layups in the first minute to give the Razorbacks the lead and spark an 11-0 run in the first three minutes of the second half, during which UConn missed all five shots it took. That forced legendary coach Geno Auriemma to call a timeout.

“I thought we had some good matchups,” Neighbors said. “We talked about them a little bit at halftime and Amber had hit the one going in, so we came out and got her another look right off the bat. Then I thought it fed into our defensive energy, allowed us to get back in transition.”

That lead eventually grew to 13 thanks in part to a pair of three-pointers by Dungee, but it quickly shrunk back down to five when the Huskies scored eight points in a minute.

Ramirez added a pair of three balls of her own in the final 26 seconds of the quarter - including one from way deep in the closing seconds - to make it 72-62 Arkansas.

The Razorbacks needed every bit of that cushion because UConn freshman phenom Paige Bueckers - the No. 1 overall player in the 2020 class - caught fire in the fourth quarter. She scored 15 of her 27 points in the game’s final 10 minutes.

It was actually Evina Westbrook, though, who made the three-pointer that put the Huskies up 79-77 with 5:28 remaining.

“We knew UConn goes on spurts and it was just sticking together,” Dungee said. “We’ve been in this position many times over the last few years and just sticking together and keeping that same energy (was key).”

Starting with a pair of Dungee free throws to regain the lead, Arkansas responded with a 10-0 run of its own that got the sellout crowd of 4,400 - the largest attendance for a women’s basketball game in the country this season - on its feet.

The Huskies made another run, but couldn’t get the critical shots to fall and the Razorbacks did a good job of securing rebounds. One that stuck out to Neighbors came when the 5-foot-9 Ramirez boxed out a larger defender and drew an over-the-back foul.

It was part of a valiant effort on the glass by Arkansas, which came into the game 290th nationally in average rebound margin (minus-5.6), compared to UConn’s plus-12.0 margin that ranked ninth. The Huskies finished just plus-six (35-29).

“Those are the rebounds we’ve been missing,” Neighbors said. “I think we got out-rebounded by six, which if that line had been in Vegas, you could have been a billionaire with that bet.”

Williams, playing in her home state, had a chance at an old-fashioned three-point play with 34 seconds left, but missed the free throw and Taylah Thomas came down with her team-leading seventh rebound.

With a three-second difference between the game clock and shot clock, Arkansas ran it all the way down and Ramirez missed a tough shot in the paint. UConn got the rebound, but - having not been in many late-game situations - didn’t get a timeout called until there were just three-tenths of a second remaining.

“I thought it took them a while to call the timeout,” Neighbors said. “They walked it up the floor and they passed it back a couple times and then took a timeout with 0.3 seconds, which you can’t get a shot off at that point in time, it has to be a tip.”

That secured the massive upset for for Arkansas, which was just 2-5 since beginning SEC play. Four of those losses were to ranked opponents - with the fifth coming against a team currently in the top 25 - and two of them happened on shots with less than a second remaining.

Dungee, one of the most prolific scorers in school history, was vital for the Razorbacks. Her 37 points came on 13 of 21 shooting - including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc - and 7 of 10 free throws. It was the 11th 30-point effort at Arkansas.

“I knew what a big opportunity it was for our team, for our program and to play in Bud Walton,” Dungee said. “I just wanted to come out with as much energy (as possible), I wanted to fuel our team.”

Ramirez also scored well above her season average - finishing with 22 points on 8 of 16 shooting, including 5 of 10 from three-point range - while Makayla Daniels chipped in 11 points.

Although she had just four points, Thomas had the aforementioned seven rebounds and Neighbors praised her for her excellent defense on Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who came in averaging 15.8 points and was held to just 2 on Thursday.

The non-conference matchup with UConn in the middle of SEC play was made possible by Vanderbilt opting out of the season earlier this month.

When the Huskies emerged as a possibility to replace the Commodores on the schedule, Neighbors approached his team - shortly after losing at No. 4 South Carolina by 22 - to see if they’d be up for the challenge.

“It was a, ‘Let’s go, coach,’” Neighbors said. “After everything we’ve been through, a lot of teams, a lot of kids would have said, ‘Let’s take the time off’ or ‘Can we find somebody that hasn’t won 11 national championships?’ But they didn’t.”

Arkansas will try to carry the momentum from the historic victory back into conference play, which resumes Sunday with a home game against Auburn.

Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed online on SEC Network-Plus.