Arkansas women slip past Hawaii

DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES

HONOLULU -- Sophomore point guard India Lewis came off the bench to help the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks edge Hawaii 76-73 Sunday in the Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Arkansas (2-3) handed the host Wahine (4-2) their second consecutive loss in taking third place in the eight-team tournament.
"I'm very proud of this team because they've worked very hard over here and the last thing they deserved was to go 1-2 in this tournament," Coach Gary Blair said. "They had to make some of their own breaks in the second half, but give this team credit, they made it happen."
Lewis scored 16 points, followed by senior Lonniya Bragg with 14 points and seven rebounds. Lewis and Bragg figured heavily in the closing moments of the game.
Heading into the final two minutes, Arkansas' inside game had been negated by Hawaii but Bragg broke through for three consecutive baskets to give the Lady Razorbacks the lead for good.
"We made an offensive change in the last minutes, and she was able to get loose," Blair said.
Hawaii rallied to cut the lead to one, then sent Lewis to the free-throw line with 14 seconds left. Lewis hit both free throws and Hawaii's three-pointer came up short.
Arkansas got three-pointers from five players, including four from Lewis. The Lady Razorbacks shot a season-high 25 three-pointers, hitting 11 of them.
Arkansas also only had 16 turnovers, while forcing 19.
After wasting a 5-0 start, Arkansas regained the first-half lead with a 13-2 run built around a pair of Lewis three-pointers. The Wahine held Arkansas scoreless for three minutes, though, while rallying tie the game at 22-22 with 7:18 left in the half.
Hawaii pushed in front 37-32 with time running out in the first half, but Lewis launched a 55-footer that caught the backboard and the bottom of the net as time expired. The Lady Razorbacks opened the second half with nine unanswered points to take a 44-37 lead.
The Lady Razorbacks continued to bomb Hawaii with three players hitting three-pointers to push the lead to 11 points, 52-41, with 14:41 to play.
"Our press was working and we were spreading around the three-pointers," Blair said. "But they made an adjustment, and got back in like any good team would."

This article was published on November 27, 2000

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