UA edging closer to second WNIT title

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Three down, two to go.
Arkansas moved within two steps of becoming the first team to repeat as WNIT champions Tuesday night, beating Georgia Tech 78-67 before 4,022 at Walton Arena.
The Lady Razorbacks (17-14) used a 10-0 run late in the second half to get some breathing room in a game that featured 14 lead changes. They made 8 of 10 free throws in the final 2:25 to seal the victory.
"Whoever paid seven bucks to get into the game got their money's worth," Georgia Tech Coach Agnus Berenato said.
Arkansas will play host to SEC rival Florida (20-13) in a semifinal game Saturday at 2 p.m. Earlier this season the Gators defeated the Lady Razorbacks 87-73 at Gainesville and 98-86 in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Lonniya Bragg led Arkansas with 18 points on 9 of 9 shooting against Georgia Tech (17-14).
"It was just a good matchup for her," Arkansas Coach Gary Blair said. "Any time we could get her matched up against somebody other than [Regina] Tate ... she was just about able to walk around them and get easy ones."
Bragg's only misses of the game were two free throws, but the biggest surprise of the night was that Arkansas was able to win despite getting only a combined six points from leading scorers Wendi Willits and Karyn Karlin.
The Lady Razorbacks' bench, however, picked up the slack, as India Lewis scored 14 points, Dana Cherry 12, Brandi Whitehead 11 and Celia Anderson 10.
The efforts of Cherry and Anderson were particularly surprising. Cherry hadn't scored more than 10 points in a game since Jan. 13, and Anderson hadn't finished with more than eight since Jan. 10.
"We felt if we could hold Willits and Karlin in check, we'd be in good shape," Berenato said. "But our sincerest compliments to Cherry and Anderson. They stepped up and played tremendous."
Cherry, recently plagued by a turf toe injury, sparked Arkansas with 10 first-half points, including a stretch of 3:45 when she scored eight points and had an assist as Arkansas overcame an 8-0 deficit and took a 20-19 lead.
"I just said to myself, 'OK Dana, it's time to play,' " Cherry said. "I've been holding myself back a little bit, trying to analyze game plans and see what's open and what's not open. Tonight, I just came out and played my hardest."
Anderson scored all 10 of her points in a span of 3:47 in the second half as Arkansas turned a 46-45 deficit into a 58-54 lead.
"Your job coming off the bench is to be a spark plug for the team," said Anderson, who played six minutes in Arkansas' first-round WNIT game and none in its second-round game. "That's my job on this team. I haven't been playing a lot of minutes, so I just try to make the most of the ones I get."
Arkansas increased a one-point halftime lead to as many as five points before Georgia Tech rallied to take a 46-45 lead on Jaime Kruppa's 12-footer from the right baseline with 12:49 to play.
But Anderson countered with her first points of the night, a three-point play for a 48-46 Arkansas advantage.
Anderson added seven more points as Arkansas pushed its lead to 58-54 with 8:38 remaining, but Danielle Donehew made a three-pointer and Nina Barlin sank two free throws as Georgia Tech took its last lead of the game, 59-58 with 7:14 to go.
Whitehead then sparked Arkansas' decisive run with four consecutive free throws, and Georgia Tech didn't score again until Alex Stewart converted a three-point play to get the Yellow Jackets within 68-62 with 2:34 left.
Amy Wright answered with two of Arkansas' stretch-run free throws, and Georgia Tech didn't get closer than seven points in the final two minutes.
Georgia Tech was led by Barlin's 16 points. Milli Martinez scored 12, and Amy Lingenfelder had 10.
Georgia Tech scored the game's first eight points and held the lead until Cherry sank a 17-foot jump shot for a 16-15 Arkansas lead at 8:53 before halftime.
Arkansas stretched its lead to 24-19 before Georgia Tech went on an 8-2 run to take a 27-26 advantage with 3:44 remaining in the half.
The teams then traded 7-0 runs, capped by a Barlin layup 37 seconds before halftime that gave Georgia Tech a 34-33 lead.
But Bragg answered with a putback basket with 13 seconds left in the half, and Arkansas didn't trail again until Kruppa's basket with 12:49 to play.

This article was published on Wednesday, March 22, 2000

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