Lady Razorbacks stumble to 0-2 start

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Arkansas made history Monday night, but not the good kind.
Missouri senior forward Amanda Lassiter scored 22 points as the Tigers beat the Lady Razorbacks 79-67 before 1,036 at the Hearnes Center. Coupled with Saturday's 66-58 loss at Memphis, Monday's loss marked the first time in the program's 25 years Arkansas has lost the first two games of a season.
"I thought Lassiter played like an All-American," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said. "We didn't have anybody that could stop her. When she hit that three coming off that UCLA cut to open up the ballgame, I knew we were in for a tough night. It was a tough shot, but she just jumped up there, looked like [Chamique] Holdsclaw and nailed it."
Lassiter's three-pointer gave Missouri a 3-2 lead, but neither team led by more than three for the first eight minutes. Missouri, however, went on a 17-0 run to take a 27-12 lead. Arkansas didn't get closer than six over the final 22:07.
Lassiter shot just 9 of 24 from the field but made key shots when Arkansas was trying to mount runs. Lassiter also had 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocked shots.
"Amanda wanted to take over tonight, and she did," Missouri Coach Cindy Stein said. "She had some great passes, some great rebounds, some great blocked shots. She's the most well-rounded player I've seen in a long, long time."
Missouri (2-0) also got 16 points from Tracy Franklin, 12 from Kerensa Barr and 11 from Marleena Williams. Evan Unrau had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Arkansas was led by Wendi Willits and Lonniya Bragg, who scored 17 each.
Willits and Celia Anderson, who made 2 of 3 shots, were the only Lady Razorbacks to shoot 50 percent or better from the field, however, and the cold shooting proved costly.
Arkansas finished 22 of 66 from the field and 4 of 17 from three-point range. Many of Arkansas' shots were rushed as the Lady Razorbacks needed time to break Missouri's pressing defenses.
"We were shooting jumpers against the press, and when you do that, it's usually one [shot] and out," Blair said.
Missouri led 43-31 at halftime and was threatened only twice in the second half.

ARKANSAS	M	FG	FT	O-R	PF	A	PTS
Bragg	36	5-13	7-8	6-9	2	0	17
Harmon	17	1-7	2-2	1-4	3	0	4
Harper	21	1-7	3-4	1-1	2	1	5
Wright	25	3-9	1-2	0-4	2	2	7
Cherry	19	3-7	2-2	1-5	1	3	8
Willits	25	5-10	5-6	2-3	2	1	17
Lewis	16	1-6	0-0	0-2	3	0	3
Christon	18	1-3	0-0	2-5	3	1	2
Anderson	12	2-3	0-0	1-2	3	0	4
Nesby	4	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Oakley	7	0-1	0-0	0-2	1	0	0
Team				1-3
Totals	200	22-66	19-23	17-42	22	8	67

PCT. -- FG 33.3, FT 82.6. 3-PT. -- 4-17, 23.5 (Willits 2-5, Wright 1-2, Lewis 1-3, Harper 0-3, Harmon 0-4). BL -- 3 (Bragg, Harmon, Willits). TO -- 22 (Wright 5). ST -- 7 (Lewis, Bragg 2).

MISSOURI	M	FG	FT	O-R	PF	A	PTS
Unrau	34	3-4	1-7	1-12	2	2	7
Lassiter	37	9-24	1-2	3-11	0	5	22
Williams	17	5-9	1-2	0-0	4	0	11
Barr	38	4-7	2-3	2-4	2	6	12
Franklin	34	6-7	2-2	2-4	3	2	16
Michelson	19	1-3	0-0	1-2	3	3	2
Smith	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	2	0	0
Bright	11	2-4	4-6	0-0	3	1	9
Wolford	6	0-1	0-0	0-3	2	0	0
Team				2-5

Totals

200

30-59

11-22

11-39

79
PCT. -- FG 50.8, FT 50.0. 3-PT. -- 8-17, 47.1 (Lassiter 3-9, Barr 2-2, Franklin 2-3, Bright 1-2, Michelson 0-1). BL -- 4 (Lassiter 3). TO -- 21 (Lassiter 6). ST -- 9 (Barr 5).
Halftime -- Missouri 43, Arkansas 31
Officials -- Candle, Scroggins, Kennedy
Attendance -- 1,036.

This article was published on November 21, 2000

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