UA women sputter, splatter Howard

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas took a step out of the SEC and back into the victory column Thursday night, but the Lady Razorbacks stumbled along the way.
Lonniya Bragg scored 11 of her 19 points during a span of 6:19 as Arkansas overcame a 14-point first-half deficit and beat Howard 98-69 in front of 1,882 at Walton Arena.
"We knew we couldn't get down [emotionally] even though we were down [on the scoreboard]," Bragg said. "We knew we had to keep fighting like Lady Razorbacks, and that's what we did. We're just going to try to build from here."
Arkansas (16-9) entered the game having lost three of its last four SEC games and in need of a confidence-booster. The Lady Razorbacks got what they wanted, but not before surviving the early scare.
"This was a feel-good game, but it took awhile to feel good," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said. "When it was 30-16, there was a lot of doubts.
"I was trying to think, 'What is it going to take to motivate this team?' I don't need to swallow a worm or to do cartwheels or something. What I need to do is to go out there and give them a game plan, then let them take over."
Howard (14-9) opened its 14-point lead by looking to leading scorer Andrea Gardner, who scored 11 of her 21 points in the first 12:00 of play.
Gardner went to the bench after picking up her second foul 7:39 before halftime, however, and Arkansas took full advantage of her absence. The Lady Razorbacks outscored the Lady Bison 27-8 over the remainder of the first half to take a 43-38 lead and weren't threatened again.
Arkansas outscored Howard 25-2 to open the second half and blow open the game, as Wendi Willits hit two of her seven three-pointers during that stretch. Willits hadn't made a three-point shot in Arkansas' last two games, but her seven after halftime set a school record for most three-pointers in a half.
"I'm just glad I made a shot," said Willits, who had 21 points. "But that was thanks to [India] Lewis. She gave me a lot of open shots. If I didn't make those, I didn't deserve to be shooting."
Lewis scored 9 points and added career-highs of 14 assists and 9 rebounds.
Arkansas, which improved to 13-0 when scoring more than 70 points, also got 11 points and seven rebounds from both Celia Anderson and Lakishia Harper.
In addition to Gardner's 21 points, Howard also got 21 from Asia Petty, 14 from Chanell Washington and 10 from Essence Coggins.
But once Arkansas overtook Howard late in the first half, the Lady Bison appeared to lose much of their spark. Howard went without a field goal for a period of 6:01, covering parts of both halves.
"We came in with the concept that we had nothing to lose, and knowing that we were coming into SEC country, I knew that they were going to have probably twice the amount of firepower that we have," Howard Coach Cathy Parson said. "But in the face of adversity, I thought we came in and gave it all we had, and we gave a great showing in the first half. I just felt like Arkansas was too much for us tonight."
Early on, the Lady Bison looked to have plenty. After Dana Cherry gave Arkansas a 2-0 lead with a 15-footer along the baseline, Howard dominated much of the first half.
Howard took its first lead on Gardner's three-point play 42 seconds after Cherry's opening basket, and didn't trail again until Bragg converted a layup off an assist from Cherry at the end of a 2-on-1 fast break.
Bragg's basket gave Arkansas a 34-32 lead with 3:08 left in the half, but Howard tied the game twice and took one-point leads twice before Lewis followed a Bragg miss with a five-footer in the lane to give the Lady Razorbacks the lead for good.
Amy Wright and Bragg added layups in the final 1:15 as Arkansas upped its advantage to 43-38 at halftime.
Arkansas returns to SEC action Sunday, when it plays at No. 5 Georgia. Tip-off is 1:30 p.m. Central.
Georgia is 9-2 in league play, and tied for second place with No. 9 Florida. Arkansas is 5-6 in the conference, and in a two-way tie with Alabama for seventh place.

This article was published on Friday, February 16, 2001

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