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LSU turns it on late as UA turns it overROB KEYSARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas didn't just let a game slip away Sunday. The Lady Razorbacks' grip on a ticket to the NCAA Tournament also became more tenuous. Arkansas blew a three-point lead with three turnovers in the final three minutes, losing 62-58 to No. 14 LSU in front of 4,091 at Walton Arena. Arkansas (15-9, 5-6 SEC) now is in a three-way tie for sixth place in the league with games remaining at No. 7 Georgia and Auburn and a home date with Ole Miss. Seven SEC victories generally are needed to receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Razorbacks appeared to have No. 6 in hand after overcoming a horrendous first-half shooting performance and taking three-point leads six times in the final 9:33 of Sunday's game. After Dana Cherry's 6-footer in the lane gave the Lady Razorbacks a 56-53 lead with 2:36 to play, Arkansas self-destructed while LSU (17-6, 7-3) put the ball in the hands of senior All-SEC guard Marie Ferdinand. She responded with eight of her game-high 26 points. "At that particular point and time, it was just a matter of digging your heels in and grinding it out," LSU Coach Sue Gunter said. "There was no magic, it was just finding a way. Offensively, we just kept going to the horse." Arkansas, meanwhile, was finding ways to lose the game. Amy Wright, Shameka Christon and Lonniya Bragg each had a turnover in 1:49 as LSU turned a 56-55 deficit with 2:21 to play into a 61-58 lead with 25 seconds remaining. "You name it, we turned it over," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said. "When you have a three-point lead at home and you've played so well to get back in the ballgame, that was the difference. "It wasn't what [LSU] did offensively, it was our inability to hold the basketball and get a good shot on the possessions that we had." Despite the late meltdown, Arkansas got senior guard Wendi Willits two three-point attempts in the final 20 seconds, but the Lady Razorbacks' all-time leader in three-pointers made couldn't connect. Arkansas followed Thursday's season-worst 2-of-22 shooting performance from three-point range with a 3-of-14 effort against LSU. The Lady Razorbacks were particularly inept in the first half, making just 9 of 39 (23.1 percent) shots from the field, including 1 of 9 (11.1) three-pointers. Arkansas was able to stay within 28-22, thanks largely to nine points and nine rebounds from senior center Celia Anderson, who finished with a season-high 13 points and career-high 13 rebounds. Cherry and Shameka Christon scored 13 each. Christon, playing for the first time after serving a one-game suspension, gave Arkansas its first three-point lead, 47-44, making a three-pointer with 9:33 to go. Ferdinand took over from there, scoring 12 of LSU's last 18 points while Arkansas missed seven of its last 11 shots. "Our kids fought hard to get back in the ballgame with as many as shots as they were missing," Blair said. "Cherry kept us in it with her energy and hustle in the first half, Christon hit some big shots in the second half and I thought Anderson was very good in there and very effective. "But the bottom line is you have to execute down the stretch at home when you have the crowd behind you. This was a ballgame ... where they did it down the stretch and we didn't do it down the stretch." LSU also got 10 points from April Brown, nine from DeTrina White and eight from Kesha Tardy while shooting 21 of 50 (42 percent) from the floor and making just two three-pointers. "I thought that they made everything very difficult for us today," Gunter said. "I thought we had to work for everything that we got. Nothing was easy, nothing was smooth, but we seemed to be able to make some plays when we had to." The Lady Razorbacks didn't make the plays and now face the possibility of needing to win two of their final three SEC games to secure their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1998. "Right now our kids are pretty low," Blair said. "How many times do we have an opportunity to play two ranked teams at our place, and have a chance in both ballgames? I mean, it hurts. But we'll take [Monday] off and then we'll go back to the drawing board."
Technical fouls -- None Officials -- Enterline, Kennedy, Novack Attendance -- 4,091.
This article was published on Monday, February 12, 2001RETURN to main page
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