UA women retreat after rally

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- LSU Coach Sue Gunter can paint her 600th career coaching victory White.
Sophomore center DeTrina White powered her way to game highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 17 LSU to an 82-69 victory over Arkansas in front of 3,059 at Walton Arena Thursday night, and put Gunter in select company.
Gunter became just the fourth woman in history to win 600 games, joining Texas' Jody Conradt, Tennessee's Pat Summitt and Rutgers' Vivian Stringer.
White, last year's SEC Freshman of the Year, was dominant throughout the game, making 12 of 14 field goals en route to a career-high point total.
"She just took us to school all night long," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said.
White scored 17 second-chance points off nine offensive rebounds.
"When she really becomes obsessed with going to the offensive boards, she's just very difficult," Gunter said. "I thought she established herself in the first two minutes like, 'Hey, I'm going to the boards.' She was brilliant tonight."
LSU (12-3, 3-1 SEC) also got 20 points from Marie Ferdinand and 16 from All-SEC forward Katrina Hibbard.
Wendi Willits led Arkansas (9-5, 0-2) with 25 points, including 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range, and Dana Cherry added 12.
White made all seven of her first-half field goals as LSU built a 39-33 lead, then withstood a couple of Arkansas rallies in the second half.
The Lady Razorbacks outscored LSU 6-2 to get within 41-39 at the start of the second half, but couldn't even the score or take the lead on two trips down the floor following LSU turnovers.
After White scored down low for a 43-39 lead, Amy Wright made two free throws to get Arkansas within 43-41, but Ferdinand answered with one of her six second-half layups.
Willits then cut the Lady Tigers lead to 45-44 with a 22-footer from the top of the key with 15:49 to play, but the Lady Razorbacks wasted another chance to take the lead, burning a Karyn Karlin steal with a turnover.
LSU stretched its lead to 59-49 behind three baskets each from White and Ferdinand before Arkansas made its strongest charge of the game.
Willits scored eight points as the Lady Razorbacks closed within 63-60 with 6:48 remaining, and India Lewis made a three-pointer to draw Arkansas within 66-65 with five minutes to play.
Arkansas took its first lead of the game 35 seconds later when Lewis fed Whitehead for a 6-footer off a pick and roll, but Ferdinand answered with another layup for a 68-67 lead.
Willits answered with a 16-footer to give Arkansas its last lead, 69-68, with 3:54 to play.
"We thought we were going to win [then], and we should've won," Willits said. "We just didn't capitalize on their mistakes, and they didn't make very many."
White followed Willits' shot by making 1 of 2 free throws to even the score at 69, and Arkansas didn't score over the final 3:36.
LSU got a putback basket from April Brown and a three-point play from Angelia Crockett to up its lead to 74-69.
"Probably the turning point for us was after Arkansas took the lead, for us not to lose our poise and not to lose our composure and come back and get the job done offensively," Gunter said.
Arkansas helped LSU by committing two of its 20 turnovers during that span, and the Lady Tigers then iced the game by making 6 of 10 free throws in the final 1:02.
"That's why they're [No.] 17 and we're knocking on the door," Blair said.
LSU opened the game with an 8-0 run and dominated the action for most of the first half.
The Lady Tigers were powered by red-hot shooting and strong work on the offensive boards. LSU made 11 of its first 20 shots, including a 6-for-6 performance by White, while building a 22-13 lead 11:29 before halftime.
Only one of the 11 field goals came outside the lane, an 11-foot jumper by Ferdinand, and four were putback baskets by White.
Arkansas switched to a 2-3 zone defense midway through the first half in an effort to slow down the LSU offense and neutralize the Lady Tigers' advantage on the boards.
The move paid off in rebounding as Arkansas closed what was once an 11-3 deficit to 18-16 by halftime. But LSU maintained control of the game by maintaining its hot shooting.
Hibbard's three-pointer from the right corner gave LSU 18 field goals in 37 attempts and a 37-26 lead with 3:03 remaining in the half.
Ferdinand's driving layup 1:36 before halftime then gave LSU its biggest lead of the half, 39-27, before Arkansas made a late rally.
Cherry scored four points and fed Karyn Karlin for a layup in the final 1:22 of the half to get Arkansas within 39-33.

This article was published on Friday, January 14, 2000

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