Willits gets record; LSU takes victory

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Wendi Willits got her record, but Arkansas extended a streak it would rather forget.
Willits made two first-half three-pointers to become the Lady Razorbacks' all-time leader. She now has 268 three-pointers, breaking the mark of 267 set by Kimberly Wilson from 1994-97.
Arkansas (9-6, 0-3 SEC), however, wasted an eight-point halftime lead and lost its 10th consecutive SEC road game, falling 61-54 to No. 9 LSU (10-5, 2-1) Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
"They started running their motion offense better and basket attacking," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said. "I think that was the main thing. We were doing a pretty good job on the defensive end, but they made the adjustments like a No. 9 team should."
LSU erased the halftime deficit by holding Arkansas without a field goal for 4:07 of the second half. During that time, the Tigers outscored the Lady Razorbacks 11-0.
By the end of the run, LSU led 43-38, a lead it extended to as many as seven before Arkansas fought back into contention.
The Lady Razorbacks got key baskets from two unlikely sources. Freshman Shanna Harmon sank a three-pointer and seldom-used junior Joy Oakley made two field goals as Arkansas used a 10-2 run to take a 50-49 lead with 4:10 remaining.
"My main focus was to come in and play defense and go to the boards," Oakley said. "But I had some open shots, took them and they went in."
The teams then traded leads twice before LSU's Ke-Ke Tardy tied the score at 52 by making 1 of 2 free throws. After Marie Ferdinand and Oakley traded baskets, April Brown hit a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Tigers the lead for good.
"The biggest shot in the game was April Brown's three. That's a big shot," LSU Coach Sue Gunter said. "You almost have to be a senior to even take that shot. But she believed she could make it and just stepped back and knocked it down."
Any hopes for an Arkansas comeback in the final minute were killed by a Dana Cherry missed layup and a Ferdinand steal and layup. Tardy made two free throws with four seconds left for the final margin.
"We ought to be thankful for this win because we didn't come out and play like we're capable," Ferdinand said.
It was the 17th consecutive home victory for LSU, which was led by Ferdinand's 21 points. Brown added 15 and Tardy 11.
"Our goal was to hold Marie Ferdinand and DeTrina White to 30 points or under combined," Blair said. "We did what we were supposed to, but didn't get it done on the offensive end with 54 points."
Arkansas was led by Willits' 13 points. Freshman Shameka Christon had 11.
Willits, a senior guard from Fort Cobb, Okla., got the record-tying three-pointer on an inbound play with 3:53 remaining in the first half. She took the pass in the right corner and sank the shot to give Arkansas a 29-23 lead.
Fifty seconds later, Willits made the record-breaker from the same spot in the opposite corner.
"I'm excited to some extent, but I guess it really hasn't sunk in because right now it just doesn't seem very big," Willits said. "I'm more concerned with our team right now. We have to get on track."
Willits' 10 first-half points helped Arkansas build a 34-26 lead. The Lady Razorbacks never trailed in the first half.
"There's probably nobody we have more respect for than Wendi Willits," Gunter said. "She's the best three-point shooter in the conference and one of the best in the nation."
Christon took a pass from Amy Wright and scored on a layup for the game's first points, and the Lady Razorbacks stretched their lead to as many as nine on two occasions midway through the first half.
The last of those leads came at 20-11 on a Willits 18-footer, and preceded a 10-2 LSU run that got the Tigers within 22-21 with 5:27 left before halftime.
Wright and Celia Anderson answered with layups, and Arkansas led 26-23 when Willits sandwiched her two three-pointers around two missed free throws by Tardy.
Arkansas plays host to Kentucky Sunday at 2 p.m.

This article was published on January 12, 2001

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