Make room for Arkansas

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' game against Auburn was an especially meaningful one for Gary Blair, but it had nothing to do with him getting his 150th victory as Lady Razorbacks Coach.
Blair was more proud of the way Arkansas had played in Sunday's 77-68 victory over Auburn in front of 4,070 at Walton Arena.
"This is the first time all year that we walked into that dressing room when that game was over ... and I said, 'We can play with anybody on a given night and we look like a legit Top 25 team,' " said Blair, whose team was second among others receiving votes in last week's AP Top 25 poll.
It would be difficult to argue with Blair, 150-90 with the Lady Razorbacks, after watching Arkansas (14-6, 4-3 SEC) move above .500 in the conference for the first time in nearly three years by beating Auburn with a relentless defense and a many-sided offense.
Hot Springs freshman Shameka Christon scored 16 points to lead an Arkansas offense that got six or more points from seven players.
"The way they came out offensively, sharing the ball and doing the little things, gave us many defensive problems," Auburn Coach Joe Ciampi said.
The Lady Razorbacks' defense, meanwhile, limited Auburn to 10-of-30 shooting in the second half, when the game largely was decided by an 11-0 Arkansas run.
"Arkansas did a great job defensively and put us in a position where we just couldn't get any offensive rhythm," Ciampi said. "Their defense did a great job handling everything we wanted to do."
Arkansas led by as many as 14 points in the first half, sparked mainly by 14 points from Christon and nine from Siloam Springs sophomore India Lewis, who was playing in her first game since breaking her right hand on Dec. 10.
Auburn (14-8, 2-6) trimmed the lead to 46-40 at halftime, however, and got within 46-42 when Tasha Hamilton opened the second-half scoring with a layup.
But Lonniya Bragg and Dana Cherry scored four points each in an 11-0 Arkansas run over the next 2:24, and Auburn couldn't get closer than six points the rest of the game.
The Tigers did make several charges, getting within eight points or less six times in the final 10:08.
Each time Arkansas had an answer. Most of those times the answer was senior center Celia Anderson, who scored eight of her 12 points in the second half.
"Anderson was the difference in the ballgame by her physical presence in there," Blair said.
Bragg also was effective, scoring eight of her 15 points after halftime. The success of Bragg and Anderson in the second half, Ciampi said, was due to Arkansas' success from the perimeter in the first half.
"Their (post) game woke up because we had to extend ourselves so far against the three-point shot," Ciampi said. "When they made six three-pointers in the first half, they extended us and caused us so many problems."
Cherry added 10 points for Arkansas, which plays at Alabama and Kentucky on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
Auburn was led by Carol Smith's 17 points. Hamilton added 13 and Lori Nero 12.
The Lady Razorbacks, tied for fifth place in the SEC, ended a 10-game SEC road losing streak last Sunday at Vanderbilt, and Anderson said she doesn't see any reason why Arkansas can't start an SEC road winning streak.
"I think we have a tremendous amount of confidence and everybody is playing well," Anderson said. "We're playing as a team, we're jelling as a team both on and off the court. I mean, you can just see a tremendous amount of fire in this team. Everybody wants to win, and that's something that's very important."
What was important to Blair on Sunday wasn't his 150th victory. It was how the game was won.
"We're not a team of All-SEC first-teamers or All-Americans, but we've got something that's working on this team," Blair said. "We've got tremendous chemistry, and we've got tremendous role-playing."

This article was published on January 29, 2001

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