Lady Razorbacks hold on late, claim fourth consecutive victory

DEBBIE JUNIEWICZ
SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

DAYTON, Ohio -- The Arkansas Lady Razorbacks are finally heading home for awhile, and they do it riding a four-game winning streak.
Playing on the road for the seventh time in the past eight games, the Lady Razorbacks squeaked out an 80-77 victory over Dayton in front of more than 1,200 fans Thursday night at Dayton Arena.
"When you're on the road, it doesn't matter how many you win by," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said. "You just take the W and get out of town.
"This team should be commended for playing seven of eight on the road. Hopefully, we'll be a better team because of it."
Senior post Lonniya Bragg led Arkansas (5-3) with 18 points. Senior guard Wendi Willits had 16 -- including four decisive free throws in the final seconds -- and senior post Celia Anderson came off the bench for 12 points and a game-saving offensive rebound.
"They were huge, just huge," Blair said. "We got the right people the ball at the end of the game. We got the right person to the free-throw line at the end. We got the big board."
Dayton (4-4) hit 11 of 16 three-pointers and pulled within a basket in the final minute after trailing by six late.
"It's always hard on the road," Bragg said. "We were aware of their three-point shooters, but I don't think we expected that from them."
Back-to-back three-pointers from Stefanie Miller put the Arkansas lead at 72-70 with 2:15 to play. Arkansas' India Lewis and Dayton's Chrissy Donovan traded three-pointers in the next minute as the Lady Razorbacks clung to a 75-73 lead entering the final 30 seconds.
Forced to foul, the Flyers sent Willits to the line twice. The senior hit all four free throws, sandwiched around a running layup by Dayton's Sarah Schloss.
Dayton's last chance came with less than a second to play, sending Bragg to the line where the senior hit 1 of 2 for the final margin.
"We've got to execute better," Blair said. "When we have an eight- or nine-point lead, we need to put the team away."
Arkansas didn't miss a shot in the lane in the first half and quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Flyers evened it up at 10.
From there, the battle was on.
Bragg gave Arkansas a 31-25 lead late in the first half, but Dayton went on a 10-point run to lead 35-31. Dayton was 7 of 8 on three-pointers in the first half and took a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
"In the locker room, our coach told us we've got to do a better job on defense," Bragg said. "We were not where we needed to be."
A three-point play by Amy Wright helped Arkansas turn a 45-42 deficit into a 51-45 lead midway through the second half and ignited an 11-2 run as the Lady Razorbacks took a 55-47 lead.
Dayton took advantage of 15 trips to the free-throw line and tied the game at 62 with six minutes remaining, but the Flyers couldn't extinguish the offensive firepower of Bragg, who scored five quick points to give the Lady Razorbacks a 67-62 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
The Flyers outrebounded Arkansas 37-22, but the Lady Razorbacks' pressure caused havoc, forcing 28 turnovers.
"Little things make the difference, and tonight Arkansas did those little things right," Dayton Coach Jaci Clark said.
Blair, however, credited the Flyers with a lot of "those little things" as well.
"Dayton shot the ball very well, and Cyndi Stull had a great game," he said. "She wore out five of our post players."
Donovan led all players with a career-high 22 points.
Arkansas begins a four-game in-state stand Sunday at 2 p.m., when they play host to Southeastern Louisiana at Bud Walton Arena.
"It's always hard to play on the road," Bragg said. "It feels great to be going home."

This article was published on December 8, 2000

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