LEXINGTON, Ky. - Arkansas women’s basketball Coach Tom Collen was glad to have the lead at halftime on Sunday against ninth-ranked Kentucky, but Collen told his players in the locker room they needed to brace for a more aggressive Wildcats defense in the second half.
Sure enough, Arkansas led 44-34 with 17:11 to play before Kentucky changed its defense, and the Razorbacks could not keep up.
The Wildcats (16-4, 4-3 SEC) outscored Arkansas 34-14 over the final 17 minutes to pull away for a 68-58 victory, switching from a 2-3 zone to a man-to-man scheme at Memorial Coliseum.
“In the first half they played us zone the whole time and they let us stay around and we executed and defended pretty well,” Collen said. “I had said in the locker room that they’re not going to continue playing that way.”
Kentucky stayed in its zone long enough for Arkansas to outscore the Wildcats 12-3 in the first 2:49 of the second half, with freshman Jessica Jackson leading the way with a three-point play and three-point basket.
That’s when things fell apart for Arkansas.
“They came out, switched to man-to-man defense, pressured us and were all over,” Collen said. “The bottom line was, they take you out of offense and they’ve done that to every team in this league when they play pressure. We made some plays, but we didn’t make enough plays.
“I’ve played here enough times, when they get sped up, they speed you up and the crowd starts roaring. Before you know it, it slides away from you pretty quick. I thought that was a key decision on their part. They got a much-needed win and we let one slip away.”
Kentucky outscored Arkansas 11-2 to pull within 46-45. Bria Goss scored five points during the spurt.
Arkansas led 50-47 at 10:54 after two Jackson free throws, but Kentucky outscored Arkansas 9-0, with Janee Thompson accounting for seven of the points, and the Wildcats led 56-50.
Arkansas closed to 56-54 but a three-pointer by Jennifer O’Neill pushed the margin to 59-54 with 5:30 left.
O’Neill led Kentucky with 21 points, one of three Wildcats to score 10 or more. O’Neill finished 8 of 12 from the field and made five of Kentucky’s nine three-pointers. Thompson added 13 and Goss had 10, including a clutch three-pointer with 2:14 remaining.
O’Neill, who scored 16 in the first half, scored five of Kentucky’s first 12 points as the Wildcats raced to a 12-4 lead in the first five minutes.
“Getting off to a good start was important, and we got off to a good start,” Kentucky Coach Matthew Mitchell said.
Arkansas tied the game 12-12, outscoring Kentucky 8-0, but a three-pointer by O’Neill gave the Wildcats a 15-12 lead with 10:18 left in the first half.
A three-pointer by Jackson with 27 seconds left in the first half gave the Razorbacks a 32-31 lead. Jackson connected on 3 three-pointers in the first half.
Jessica Jackson led the Razorbacks (15-5, 2-5) with 23 points.
“I think she’s one of the best freshmen in the country,” Collen said. “I started recruiting her when she was in the eighth-grade. She was a must get for us and glad that we go her. She continues to get better game-in and game-out.”
Collen said he was surprised Kentucky opened the game in a zone.
“We never practice against the zone the entire week,” Collen said. “We had no anticipation or thought they would do it. We watched them play a little bit of zone. That allowed us to stay with them. We shot the ball pretty well.
“The way they talk about playing and the way they’ve had success playing in the past is what they brought out in the second half. It was two completely different styles.”NO. 10 SOUTH CAROLINA 61, VANDERBILT 56
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tiffany Mitchell scored on a driving layup with 50.9 seconds left to lift No. 10 South Carolina to a 61-56 victory over 16th-ranked Vanderbilt for the Gamecocks’ best start ever in the SEC.
The Gamecocks (18-2, 6-1 SEC) had never started 6-1 since joining the conference and won their second consecutive by keeping Coach Dawn Staley undefeated in her third trip to Memorial Gym.
With the score tied at 55-55, Mitchell beat the shot clock and then stole the ball and finished off the fast break with another layup with 34.3 seconds to seal the victory. Mitchell finished with 14 points. Aleighsa Welch and Elem Ibiameach added 10.
Vanderbilt (16-4, 5-2) saw it’s four-game winning streak end as the Commodores missed out on their fourth upset of a ranked team this season.
Christina Foggie finished with 23 points for Vanderbilt.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 76, NO. 17 TEXAS A&M 55
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Meighan Simmons scored 26 points as No. 11 Tennessee raced past No. 17 Texas A&M 76-55 on Sunday.
Simmons scored nearly as many points (15) as the Aggies in the first half, as the Lady Vols roared to a 36-20 lead over the first 20 minutes and A&M never threatened after the break. Tennessee, playing without guard Ariel Massengale, snapped A&M’s nine-game winning streak in its first visit to College Station. Massengale suffered a face injury in the first half of UT’s Thursday victory against Florida.
Simmons was 12 of 19 from the field. Bashaara Graves, Isabelle Harrison, and Andraya Carter each chipped in 10 points for Tennessee (16-4, 5-2 SEC).
Courtney Walker led Texas A&M (16-5, 6-1) with 20 points. Courtney Williams scored 14 points, and Karla Gilbert added 14 points with 11 rebounds for the Aggies.
NO. 15 LSU 66, MISSISSIPPI 56
OXFORD, Miss. - Theresa Plaisance scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as No. 15 LSU held Mississippi without a point over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the game to secure a 66-56 victory.
Diara Moore’s two free throws with 3:44 left to play cut the LSU lead to a single point, 57-56, but the Rebels missed their last six shots, three from three-point range while LSU converted 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final minute.
Plaisance’ layup with 2:02 left gave the Tigers some breathing room, 59-56, and Shanece McKinney followed with another layup with 1:13 left to make it 61-56.
Danielle Ballard added 12 points and McKinney contributed 10 for LSU (16-4, 5-2 SEC).
Moore led Ole Miss (10-11, 1-6) with 17 points. Tia Faleru and Valencia McFarland added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
SUNDAY’S GAMES Kentucky 68, Arkansas 58 LSU 66, Mississippi 56 South Carolina 61, Vanderbilt 56 Mississippi State 69, Missouri 62 Florida 87, Auburn 69 Alabama 69, Georgia 66 Tennessee 76, Texas A&M 55 THURSDAY’S GAMES All times Central Arkansas at Tennessee, 6 p.m.
Texas A&M at Auburn, 6 p.m.
Alabama at Florida, 6 p.m.
Mississippi at South Carolina, 6 p.m.
Mississippi State at LSU, 7 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Missouri, 7 p.m.
Kentucky at Georgia, 8 p.m.
Sports, Pages 13 on 01/27/2014