Karlin, UA women reign with 'Spain'

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas had to go to "Spain" to beat Iowa.
"Spain" is Arkansas' only set play designed to get senior forward Karyn Karlin a shot, and the Lady Razorbacks ran it repeatedly Sunday in a 72-65 victory over Iowa before a crowd of 2,971 at Walton Arena.
The play calls for Karlin to come off a screen and get the ball near the free-throw line, then turn and shoot -- usually from the 15-foot range. Karlin responded by scoring a season-high 26 points, with 14 coming from jump shots at or near the free-throw line. She made 11 of 18 field-goal attempts.
"The more she made it, the more they kept going to her," Iowa Coach Angie Lee said.
Arkansas (12-7) looked for Karlin late in the game, particularly, after Iowa had erased a 15-point Lady Razorbacks lead.
Iowa actually took a pair of one-point leads before Wendi Willits' layup put Arkansas ahead 57-56 with 7:21 to play. Karlin then followed with a 16-footer, the first of four baskets in three minutes.
When that span ended, Arkansas led 65-60, but Iowa (6-13) got a three-pointer from Lindsey Meder to get within 65-63 with 2:43 remaining.
After Iowa failed to convert on back-to-back Arkansas turnovers, Lonniya Bragg converted a three-point play for a 68-63 lead with 58 seconds left.
Karlin then came up with a steal, dribbled the length of the floor and fed Lakishia Harper for a layup with 30 seconds remaining.
Iowa got a putback basket to make it 70-65, but Karlin made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 19 seconds.
"I think she [Karlin] was the story and the difference in the second half," Lee said. "It was her night."
Arkansas also got 14 points from Willits, Bragg had 9 points and 7 rebounds, and Amy Wright had 6 assists.
Lindsey Meder scored a game-high 27 points for Iowa, which also got 11 points each from Cara Consuerga and Mary Berdo, and 10 from Randi Peterson.
Meder scored 16 points in the second half, including 11 during a 20-4 run that gave Iowa a 53-52 lead.
"My gosh, we didn't stop No. 10 [Meder] all night," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said.
The 53-52 lead was the Hawkeyes' first since 8-7, but Karlin answered with a three-point play to put Arkansas ahead 55-53.
Berdo then countered with a 21-footer to give Iowa its last lead, 56-55.
After that, it was mostly Karlin.
"My shot was just falling today, I seemed to have a lot of energy, and my teammates were really looking for me and getting me the ball," said Karlin, whose only higher-scoring game came in 1997, when she scored 27 points at Providence.
Arkansas, which closed the first half with a 9-4 spurt to take a 38-31 halftime lead, has won three consecutive games after losing five in a row.
"Even when we were losing, we knew that we were playing well but that [our opponents] were just playing better," Willits said. "There's never a down day in the SEC."
Against Iowa, Arkansas shot 50 percent (29 of 58) from the field and committed 12 turnovers. Iowa had only nine turnovers but was plagued by 35 percent (24 of 68) shooting.

This article was published on Monday, January 31, 2000

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