LAS VEGAS — Sophomore guard C’eria Rickets and senior guard Charity Ford scored all of Arkansas’ points in a game-turning 10-0 run, and the Razorbacks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 68-58 victory over Virginia Commonwealth on Monday in the Duel in the Desert.
Ricketts finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds and Ford scored 15. Freshman forward Dominique Robinson added 11 points and sophomore guard Lyndsay Harris 10 for Arkansas.
“I was proud of the team for the effort today,” Arkansas Coach Tom Collen said. “We talked about bouncing back, and it wasn’t an easy bounce back against a team we could just go out and beat up on. This is another team I think could be in the NCAA Tournament at theend of the year.”
Arkansas trailed 32-29 at halftime after falling behind 12-3 in the opening minutes.
Vi r g i n i a C o m m o n - wealth’s lead grew to six in the second half, but the Razorbacks chipped away at the score, tying the game at 50-50 with 6:58 to play.
The next basket, a layup from Ford, gave Arkansas a lead it didn’t relinquish as it held VCU scoreless formore than five minutes.
The 10-0 run stretched the lead to nine with just over three minutes to play, and the Razorbacks led by 12 late.
“At the beginning of the game, we were OK, and we gained some confidence going into the locker room,” Collen said. “It just kept growing, and the more it grew, the better we played.”
The Razorbacks outrebounded VCU 45-33, led by sophomore forward Ashley Daniels, who tied her career best with 11.
VCU was paced by senior forward D’Andra Moss, who led all scorers with 19 points.
Sports, Pages 16 on 12/22/2009