UA women outplay Vanderbilt for first SEC victory

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas was more than happy it didn't make history Sunday afternoon in front of 3,465 at Walton Arena.
By outplaying Vanderbilt down the stretch, the Lady Razorbacks won their first SEC game of the season, 61-52, and avoided becoming only the second team in the program's 23-year history to lose three consecutive home games.
Junior guard Wendi Willits paced Arkansas (10-7, 1-4) with a game-high 17 points, including 5 for 5 from three-point range. Senior forward Karyn Karlin, making her first start since Jan. 3, added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.
"We were just tired of losing," Karlin said. "And right now is a turning point in the season. If we don't start [winning] now, then we don't have a chance [for postseason play]."
The game featured four ties and eight lead changes before freshman guard India Lewis, who finished with 10 points, nailed a 20-footer from the top of the key to give Arkansas a 46-43 lead with 9:09 to play.
Vanderbilt (14-5, 2-3) closed to within one point twice in the final 6:41, but Arkansas outscored the Commodores 13-5 in the final 5:20 to clinch the victory.
Before Sunday's matchup, Arkansas was plagued by late turnovers in losing seven of its last eight games. Against Vanderbilt, though, the Lady Razorbacks did not commit a turnover in the final five minutes.
"We just wanted to concentrate on not making those kinds of mistakes," Willits said. "We know we've been turnover-prone in the last few games, and we wanted to put a special emphasis on not doing it tonight."
Vanderbilt, meanwhile, committed four turnovers, and leading scorer Chantelle Anderson picked up two offensive fouls in the final five minutes.
Those fouls were Anderson's fourth and fifth and came with Vanderbilt trailing by four and eight points, respectively.
"If the other team continues to be able to play their best players because they're never in foul trouble, it doesn't make the game any easier," said Vanderbilt Coach Jim Foster, who watched his team pick up seven second-half fouls before Arkansas was called for its first.
But more than any discrepancy in fouls, Foster said, the game came down to Arkansas' ability to execute offensively and defensively late in the game.
"This league is so competitive and so tough that you have to be ready to play every night, against anybody," Foster said. "There are no nights off in this league.
"Nothing Arkansas did tonight surprised me. I expected them to play with a sense of urgency, just like they have been. What they probably did was execute a little bit better at the end of the game."
After Chantelle Anderson scored on a layup to get Vanderbilt within 48-47 with 5:59 to play, Arkansas went on a 7-0 run, getting baskets from Willits and Celia Anderson and two free throws from Karlin.
The spurt gave Arkansas a 55-47 lead with 3:40 to play, and Vanderbilt -- despite 16 points from Anderson, 13 from Chavonne Hammond and 10 from Zuzana Klimesova -- couldn't get closer than five points the rest of the way.
Karlin, Lewis and Willits all made free throws in the final 1:37 to prevent a Vanderbilt comeback.
"We refused to choke down the stretch," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said.
Karlin and Willits' performances were especially encouraging for the Lady Razorbacks because both players have struggled recently.
In Arkansas' two games prior to Sunday, Willits had made just 5 of 23 field-goal attempts, her worst two-game stretch of the season. She took only nine shots against Vanderbilt but made all four in the second half, all of which were three-pointers.
"I won't ever tell her to stop shooting," Blair said.
Karlin played a season-high 33 minutes and had 1 assist, 1 block and 3 steals along with her 13 points and 6 rebounds. Karlin had played 30 minutes only twice this season, the last time in a 71-66 loss at New Mexico on Dec. 21.
"Karlin was special today," Blair said. "It's not the 4-for-12 [shooting]. It was being able to take the big-time shots, play the game with only one turnover and then do a pretty good job on the defensive end."
Vanderbilt overcame an early seven-point deficit to take a 26-22 halftime lead, but it was Arkansas' energy and execution that proved to be the difference in the second half.
"I'd just like to thank this basketball team for allowing this coaching staff to continue doing what we believe in," Blair said. "We didn't add one new play, we didn't change one defense. We just played it harder and better."

This article was published on Monday, January 31, 2000

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