LEXINGTON, Ky. — Turnovers turned out to be the difference Thursday night for the Arkansas women’s basketball team.
Arkansas turned over the ball three times in the final minute against No. 20 Kentucky, allowing the Wildcats to escape with a 55-54 victory at Memorial Coliseum.
“It’s so disappointing,” Arkansas Coach Tom Collen said. “We have lost six games in the SEC that same way in the last seconds.”
This one was particularly frustrating for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas (18-9, 6-9 SEC) had taken a 54-49 lead on a layup by Lyndsay Harris with 2:01 left in the game, butthose were the last points for the Razorbacks. Arkansas managed just one more shot, Ashley Daniels’ missed jumper with 1:29 play.
Kentucky (21-7, 10-5) cut the lead to 54-51 on Victoria Dunlap’s putback with 1:10 to play, then left the rest to its defense, which forced Arkansas into two turnovers in the final 26 seconds.
Arkansas’ Jamesha Townsend turned over the ball with 26 seconds left and fouled Dunlap, who made both free throws to cut the deficit to 54-53.
It stayed that way until Yashira Delgado stepped out of bounds with 17 seconds left while trying to break Kentucky’s press. The Wildcats then found A’dia Mathies slashing to the basket, and she hit the winning shot with five seconds remaining.
“She made a play,” Collen said. “Great players do that. You have to give them credit for holding on at the end.”
Junior C’eira Ricketts led Arkansas with a game-high 17 points, eclipsing the career 1,000-point mark in the process. Harris added 11 points for the Razorbacks, and sophomore Sarah Watkins had nine. Daniels finished with eight points and a season-best 13 rebounds.
Mathies led Kentucky with 17 points. Dunlap added 12 and Brittany Henderson scored 10.
Arkansas trailed 28-21 athalftime after using a strong run to close out the first half. The Razorbacks came out hot in the second half as well, putting together a 20-6 runto take a 45-41 lead. Arkansas made 10 of 16 shots to start the second half and built its lead to seven points.
The Razorbacks shot 46percent for the game but finished with 24 turnovers, which led to 28 points for Kentucky.
The Wildcats, who had 17 turnovers, shot 33 percent from the field for the game and were held to their thirdlowest points total of the season.
ARKANSAS (18-9) Townsend 2-4 0-3 4, Daniels 4-6 0-0 8, Watkins 4-9 1-2 9, Ricketts 7-15 0-2 17, Harris 4-9 0-0 11, Walter 0-3 0-0 0, Delgado 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 23-50 1-7 54.
KENTUCKY (21-7) Dunlap 4-8 4-5 12, Henderson 4-6 2-2 10, Mathies 7-19 0-2 17, Morrow 0-0 0-0 0, Pinkett 3-9 0-0 6, O’Neill 2-7 0-0 5, Riley 0-3 0-0 0, Snowden 2-9 0-0 5, Barnette 0-1 0-0 0, Conwright 0-3 0-0 0, Drake 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-66 6-9 55.
Halftime-Kentucky 28-21. 3-Point Goals-Arkansas 7-15 (Ricketts 3-5, Harris 3-5, Delgado 1-2, Watkins 0-1, Walter 0-2), Kentucky 5-20 (Mathies 3-6, O’Neill 1-4, Snowden 1-6, Barnette 0-1, Pinkett 0-3). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Arkansas 37 (Daniels 13), Kentucky 38 (Mathies 9). Assists-Arkansas 5 (Daniels, Delgado, Ricketts, Townsend, Watkins 1), Kentucky 11 (Conwright, O’Neill, Pinkett 2). Total Fouls- Arkansas 11, Kentucky 13. Attendance-6,670
Sports, Pages 13 on 02/25/2011