UA women knock off No. 24 BC

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Gary Blair presented the Lady Razorbacks with their WNIT championship rings before Tuesday night's game against Boston College.
The Lady Razorbacks then presented the Eagles with what will likely be a one-way ticket out of the Top 25.
Arkansas used a 13-4 run to open the second half and had five players score at least 10 points en route to a 79-68 victory over No. 24 Boston College in front of 2,865 at Walton Arena.
"We made a very, very good team not look too good," Blair said.
Freshman India Lewis sparked Arkansas (5-0) with eight points off the bench in the first half, and Wendi Willits scored 10 of her team-high 16 points in the first half as the Lady Razorbacks built a 35-28 halftime lead.
Arkansas then got baskets from five players in the first five minutes of the second half while stretching its lead to 48-32.
Karlin, who finished with 10 points, scored twice during the run, and Lewis capped it with a three-pointer, her third of the game. Lewis finished with 13 points and four steals.
"India's given us a real spark this year," Willits said.
"She provides a lot of energy, and it's just fun to go out there and play with her because you know that she's going to go out and give you everything she's got."
The Lady Razorbacks also got 12 points from Lakishia Harper and 10 points and a team-high six rebounds from Celia Anderson.
"They did it as a group, and I think they should be commended for that," Boston College Coach Cathy Inglese said.
Cal Bouchard scored a game-high 17 points for Boston College (4-3), which also got 15 from Alissa Murphy.
Boston College's Jamie Cournoyer hit a 12-foot jump shot in the lane for the game's first score, then the Eagles held the lead for about seven minutes before Lewis hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 9-9.
"She's always looking for the seam or the pass or the quick three," Blair said. "What a lift she gave us when -- Bam! -- she came in and hit that shot."
After Becky Gottstein put Boston College back ahead with a free throw, Lewis helped Arkansas to its first lead of the game by feeding Joy Oakley for a layup and an 11-10 lead with 11:16 to play in the first half.
Arkansas stretched its lead to as many as 11 points twice in the first half as Willits scored nine of her 10 first-half points in a span of five minutes.
Boston College closed to within 32-28 with 1:30 remaining in the half, but Lewis hit another three-pointer to give Arkansas a seven-point halftime lead.
After the 13-4 run to open the second half, Arkansas led by as many as 17 on five occasions.
Arkansas maintained a lead of at least 10 points until Bouchard made a driving layup to get Boston College within 65-56 with 3:20 to play. But Harper answered with a driving layup for a 67-56 Lady Razorbacks lead, and the Eagles didn't get closer than seven points in the final 2:03.
Arkansas shot 47.5 percent (28 of 59) from the field, including 5 of 13 (39 percent) on three-pointers, while limiting Boston College to 39.1 percent shooting, including 1 of 12 on three-pointers.
"I don't really care about polls, but I think that this will definitely open some eyes and show that we can play with top 20 teams," Karlin said.
Arkansas returns to action Friday, when it plays at 7 p.m. at Baylor.

This article was published on Wednesday, December 1, 1999

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