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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
11-17
Arkansas
18-10
Lady Rebels' season comes to end with a 78-60 loss to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament
3/4/2002 | Women's Basketball
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Dana Cherry scored 22 points and India Lewis added 17 as Arkansas defeated Mississippi 78-60 Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Seventh-seeded Arkansas (18-10) will play 12th-ranked South Carolina in the quarterfinals Friday.
The win avenged an 81-46 loss to Ole Miss (11-17) in the Lady Razorbacks' SEC opener, the team's worst loss of the year. Arkansas, which now has won five of its last six games, is 10-2 when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting. Ole Miss shot 36.5 percent from the field.
The Lady Razorbacks trailed only once, 1-0 on Tywanna Inmon's second free throw attempt, in the opening minutes. Shameka Christon quickly hit a 3-pointer to put Arkansas on top, and the Lady Razorbacks led 34-28 at halftime.
The Lady Rebels improved their shooting early in the second half to pull within 43-42 on a shot by Amber Watts at 14:19. But they didn't score again until almost two minutes later, allowing Arkansas to rebuild its lead.
``When we get off to a slow start it kind of carries throughout. We don't have the confidence we need,'' Ole Miss coach Ron Aldy said. ``Not only shooting, it effects other parts of our game too.''
Ole Miss stayed close throughout most of the second half, and had several opportunities to take over the game, but the Lady Rebels couldn't capitalize on open shots and committed some silly turnovers and finished with 21 compared to 12 by Arkansas.
The Lady Razorbacks closed the game with a 23-8 run.
Lakishia Harper closed out double-digit scoring for the Lady Razorbacks with 12. Amy Wright had six points despite playing with either a case of flu or food poisoning.
``We went out to eat last night _ and I won't name the restaurant _ and all ate just about the same thing, but a couple hours later Amy looked at us and said, 'Guys, I don't feel so good,''' Lewis said with a laugh. ``We all stayed away because we didn't know what she had.''
The victory ties Arkansas coach Gary Blair with John Sutherland for 174 victories. Blair tied Sutherland earlier this year for tenure at Arkansas with nine years each.
Saundra Jackson led Ole Miss with 13 points, while Von Kirk had 11.
