Arkansas women shoot their worst in loss to LSU

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Arkansas could have used Rich Bisson Saturday afternoon.
Bisson won a Mitsubishi Montero during a halftime promotion by throwing a paper airplane from his seat at the Maravich Assembly Center through the sunroof of the vehicle, which was parked at center court.
Arkansas, conversely, turned in its worst shooting performance of the season, making just 18 of 54 field goals in a 68-51 loss to No. 7 LSU before a crowd of 6,352, the third-largest in Lady Tigers history.
Arkansas (14-9, 4-6 SEC) also set season lows for made field goals and total points, leaving Coach Gary Blair searching for answers.
"There's not a rhyme or reason for anything," Blair said.
With the exception of Karyn Karlin, who made eight of Arkansas' field goals and scored 25 points, it was definitely bad play on the Lady Razorbacks' part.
After Karlin made two free throws to get Arkansas within 47-43 with 11:53 to play, LSU put together a 16-0 run for a 20-point cushion. The Lady Razorbacks went more than seven minutes without scoring before Karlin made the first three-pointer of her career with 4:51 to play.
By that time, though, LSU was in complete control. The Lady Tigers (19-4, 8-2) led by more than 10 points for the final 9:10.
Marie Ferdinand led LSU's second-half charge, scoring 13 of her 24 points in the first 10 minutes of the half as the Lady Tigers stretched a two-point halftime lead to 52-43.
"It seems like she's got another floor that other players don't have as far as energy," LSU Coach Sue Gunter said of Ferdinand. "It's like she just gets on that elevator, pushes a button and goes."
Arkansas led for much of the first half, and its lead peaked at 27-18 on two Karlin free throws 3:36 before halftime.
"I think we played very good basketball for about 17 minutes," Blair said.
LSU closed the half with a 13-2 run, capped by Ferdinand's putback basket 1.2 seconds before the buzzer. Ferdinand's shot gave LSU a 31-29 lead and sparked the Lady Tigers.
"They stepped up, and we didn't," Karlin said. "That's happened before here, and I think, once again, that's a team taking advantage of the home-court advantage. They got the crowd into it and got the momentum."
Gunter agreed.
"At halftime, there really were not a lot of adjustments except attitudes," she said.
Arkansas stayed within striking distance early in the second half but faded after a Karlin free throw got the Lady Razorbacks within 37-36 with 15:34 to play.
Karlin's shot came after LSU's DeTrina White picked up her third foul and went to the bench. But it was LSU, not Arkansas, that responded to the departure of White, who had a career-high 27 points and 12 rebounds in the Lady Tigers' 82-69 victory at Walton Arena earlier this season.
Ferdinand was particularly effective, scoring nine points as LSU built its 52-43 lead without the help of White, who finished with 12 points after scoring 11 in the first half.
LSU also got 18 points from Katrina Hibbert and eight assists from Angelia Crockett, the most she's had in an SEC game this season.
Gunter credited Crockett for shutting down Arkansas' leading scorer, Wendi Willits, who has been battling the flu for several days. Willits scored just six points.
"We knew she had the flu and wasn't feeling well, but Angelia Crockett didn't show her much mercy, either," Gunter said. "We decided that was Angie's one job, to chase Willits."
The loss dropped Arkansas to 3-20 versus top-10 teams under Blair. The Lady Razorbacks haven't won a road game against a top-10 team since beating Georgia 81-70 in an NCAA Tournament game in 1990.

This article was published on Sunday, February 13, 2000

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