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Battered, bloodied and beatenROB KEYSARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas sparred with mighty Tennessee for more than 36 minutes, but buckled late under two knockout blows from Lady Vols senior guard Semeka Randall. Randall fed Tamika Catchings for a layup, then converted a three-point play 40 seconds later, allowing second-ranked Tennessee to extend a six-point lead to 11 in a 76-61 victory over Arkansas before a season-high 6,687 Sunday afternoon at Walton Arena. Arkansas' Wendi Willits had made a three-pointer to get the Lady Razorbacks (9-5, 0-2 SEC) within 63-57 with 4:03 remaining before Randall erased any hopes of an upset. "Randall is just a great ballplayer," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said. "She plays the game with passion, and that's what makes her very, very exciting." Randall's lone assist was good enough to give Catchings a backdoor layup, and after Arkansas failed to score on its ensuing possession, Randall took a similar pass from Gwen Jackson and drove in the lane for a layup, getting knocked to the floor in the process. Randall pumped her fists as she watched the ball go through the basket, then sank a free throw for a 70-59 Lady Vols lead with 3:00 to play. Tennessee (14-1, 2-0) didn't let Arkansas get closer than nine points the rest of the way. "We made a lot of big plays. They made a lot of big plays," Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said. "But we've been working hard to have a balanced offensive attack, and I thought we had that. "I think we're still a little soft in our halfcourt man defense, but when we had to make some plays, we made some big plays and had some nice stops. This was a hard-fought but very good win." Kara Lawson scored 19 points off the bench to lead five Lady Vols with 10 or more points. Catchings added 15, Gwen Jackson 12, Randall 11 and Michelle Snow 10. Lawson made 3 of 5 three-pointers and scored 10 points during a 12-7 Tennessee run that extended a 27-21 Lady Vols halftime lead to 39-28 with 15:10 to play. "I was just getting good open looks and we were reversing the ball quick," Lawson said. "Then I got on a little bit of a roll and my teammates kept feeding me the ball, so I kept hitting them." Tennessee led by as many as 13 points before Arkansas trimmed the lead to six points, largely behind two layups from Lonniya Bragg and Willits' three-pointer. Willits scored nine points, all on three-pointers, and now needs just two more to become Arkansas' all-time leader. Junior point guard Amy Wright led Arkansas with a season-high 13 points. Dana Cherry scored 11 and Bragg and Shameka Christon had nine each. The game featured 44 fouls and was hotly contested from start to finish. Willits, who left the game with a lacerated nose for a stretch of four minutes in the second half, and Cherry, who went to the bench with a busted lip later in the half, were the two most visible examples of a game that often saw the floor littered with bodies. "You saw what SEC basketball is about," Blair said. Arkansas, however, was far less than SEC-caliber on offense in the first half, making just 7 of 36 (19.4 percent) shots. After Wright opened the game with a three-pointer, the Lady Razorbacks missed their next 13 shots. Christon ended Arkansas' field-goal drought of 9:44 with a 10-footer, then followed that with a three-pointer 49 seconds later to get the Lady Razorbacks within 14-10 midway through the half. But Arkansas made back-to-back field goals without allowing Tennessee to score just one more time in the final 29-plus minutes. "We missed the shots we had to have," Blair said. Tennessee also got seven of their eight blocked shots in the first half. Led by Lawson, the Lady Vols bench outscored Arkansas' reserves 28-10. Arkansas stayed within striking distance by playing tenacious defense. The Lady Razorbacks limited the Lady Vols to 37 percent shooting in the first half, and also benefited when Tennessee missed the front end of three one-and-ones. "We played with them, we handled them," Blair said. "All I asked our team to do was put us in position the last five minutes to win, and we were in a position to win. (But) great teams know how to finish off teams and (Tennessee) did a good job."
Halftime -- Tennessee 27, Arkansas 21 Technical fouls -- None Officials -- Bell, Day, Bargo Attendance -- 6,687.
This article was published on January 8, 2001RETURN to main page
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