Road-weary UA women even record

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

OKLAHOMA CITY -- It took more than 10,000 miles, but Arkansas finally reached .500 Friday night.
Playing its sixth consecutive game away from Walton Arena, Arkansas improved its record to 3-3 with a 69-61 victory over Oklahoma State at The Myriad.
The Lady Razorbacks, who will play host to Brigham Young in their home opener on Monday, traveled more than 9,700 miles to play games at Memphis, Missouri and Hawaii before Friday night's game.
Arkansas showed the ill effects of all the travel in the first half against Oklahoma State, but simplified its game plan in the second half and pulled away late in reaching the .500 mark for the first time this season.
"Let's just call it a UW -- an ugly win -- and we'll go," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said.
Senior forward Lonniya Bragg of Arkadelphia led the Lady Razorbacks with game highs in points (24) and rebounds (12). Senior guard Wendi Willits and freshman forward/center Shanna Harmon added 15 and nine points, respectively.
The Cowgirls (4-2) were led by Chantoya Hawkins' 13 points. Jessica Bates scored 11 and Shelby Hutchens 10.
The first half was an ugly one for both teams, as they combined for more turnovers (27) than field goals (17).
Oklahoma State led by five points twice in the first half, despite shooting 33.3 percent (7 of 21) from the field, but Arkansas managed to forge a 25-25 halftime tie despite shooting even worse (10 of 34, 29.4 percent).
"This bothers me as much as any game we've played in three or four years," Oklahoma State Coach Dick Halterman said. "I thought we had the chance to take control of the game two or three times and didn't do it."
Neither team seized control in the first 12 minutes of the second half, when there were four ties, but Bragg eventually gave the Lady Razorbacks the lead for good with three free throws in a span of four seconds.
Bragg made 9 of 14 field goals and 6 of 7 free throws in 34 minutes.
"That's what we've got to have every day," Blair said.
Willits scored 10 of her 15 points after halftime. All of her second-half field goals either gave Arkansas the lead or extended it.
"Willits wasn't at her best ... but she still hit the shots that we had to have in the second half," Blair said.

ARKANSAS	M	FG	FT	O-R	PF	A	PTS
Bragg	34	9-14	6-7	4-12	2	2	24
Oakley	5	0-2	0-0	2-3	2	0	0
Wright	22	0-0	0-0	0-2	2	4	0
Willits	31	4-11	4-4	0-1	0	0	15
Cherry	20	2-6	0-0	2-3	2	0	4
Lewis	23	1-7	4-6	1-7	1	3	6
Christon	11	1-5	0-0	1-1	0	0	2
Anderson	17	2-6	0-0	4-8	1	0	4
Harmon	21	3-9	2-2	2-2	4	0	9
Harper	16	2-6	1-2	1-1	3	0	5
Team				1-3
TOTALS	200	24-66	17-21	18-43	17	9	69

PCT. -- FG 36.4, FT 81.0. 3-PT. -- 4-18, 22.2 (Willits 3-7, Harmon 1-4, Christon 0-2, Lewis 0-5). BL -- 2 (Bragg, Harmon). TO -- 19 (Bragg 4). ST -- 11 (Lewis 4).

OKLAHOMA STATE	M	FG	FT	O-R	PF	A	PTS
Faulk	23	2-7	0-0	2-7	4	0	4
Skibbe	11	2-3	1-1	1-2	2	0	5
Hutchens	27	3-6	4-4	1-3	1	3	10
Roberts	36	4-12	0-0	0-5	3	6	9
Hawkins	36	3-10	5-6	2-9	2	2	13
Spinner	17	2-5	0-0	0-1	3	4	6
Bates	29	5-9	1-3	5-8	4	0	11
Stuber	1	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Haliburton	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Lawrence	17	0-3	3-4	2-4	2	0	3
Team				0-0
TOTALS	200	21-47	14-18	13-39	21	16	61

PCT. -- FG 36.8, FT 77.8. 3-PT. -- 5-16, 31.3 (Spinner 2-5, Hawkins 2-6, Roberts 1-3, Faulk 0-1, Stuber 0-1). BL -- 1 (Skibbe). TO -- 23 (Skibbe, Spinner, Bates 4). ST -- 8 (Faulk, Hutchens 2).
Halftime -- Arkansas 25, Oklahoma State 25
Officials -- Saenz, Alvarez, Williams
Attendance -- N/A.

This article was published on December 2, 2000

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