SEC Women's Basketball Roundup - 11/29

Friday, November 29, 2002
 
No. 17 Arkansas 78, Hampton 41
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) --
Shameka Christon, Rudy Vaden and Cara Wright each scored 13 points to lead No. 17 Arkansas past Hampton 78-41 at the Paradise Jam tournament Friday.

Arkansas (4-0) held Hampton (1-2) to just 19-percent shooting from the field in the first half and 28 percent for the game.

Hampton had 25 turnovers.

India Lewis had 11 points for Arkansas.

Brendy Ellis led Hampton with 12 points.

Auburn 79, Florida A&M 42
AUBURN, Ala. --
Three Tigers finished in double-figures as Auburn improved to 3-0 with a 79-42 win over Florida A&M (1-2) Friday in the Auburn Thanksgiving Classic at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

Junior Le'Coe Willingham finished with 12 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field. Freshman Marita Payne pulled down seven boards to go along with 10 points and freshman Dani Kubic scored 10 points.

"It was a really, really good effort from our offense," head coach Joe Ciampi said. "We were able to shoot the ball well. We played a lot of zone and that helped us get the ball into the shooters hands."

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead off of a Nancy Derrick 3-pointer and jump shot. Auburn never trailed and ended the first half on an 18-2 run to give them a 41-19 halftime lead. The Tigers outscored the Rattlerettes in the second half 38-23 as Auburn ended the game with a 15-5 run to win the contest 79-42.

Auburn will play the winner of the Jackson State vs. Belmont game Saturday at 3:15 p.m. in the championship game of the Auburn Thanksgiving Classic. The consolation game will be played at 1 p.m.

No. 4 Tennessee 136, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 26
CAROLINA, Puerto Rico (AP) --
Gwen Jackson made all 14 of her shots and scored 28 points to lead fourth-ranked Tennessee to a 136-26 victory Friday over Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in the first round of the San Juan Shootout.

Jackson added 11 rebounds for the Lady Vols (3-1), who also got 17 points from Brittany Jackson and 15 from Loree Moore.

The Lady Vols got off to a 9-0 lead before Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (0-4) got on the board. Jackson had 16 points and Tennessee held an 69-14 lead at the half.

Then the Lady Vols opened the second half by scoring 18 straight points. Tennessee hit the 100-point mark with 11:10 remaining.

Melisa Perez led Puerto Rico-Mayaguez with 9 points.

No. 3 LSU 87, Washington State 50
MIAMI (AP) --
DeTrina White scored 14 points, and No. 3 LSU used two strong runs to beat Washington State 87-50 Friday night in the Thanksgiving Classic.

The Tigers (4-0) led 30-27 late in the first half when White scored eight points during a 13-2 run. Then LSU took a commanding lead by scoring the first eight points of the second half.

Bianca McCall and Sarah Barrett scored 12 points apiece for Washington State (0-3).

White, who scored her 1,000th career point in the first half, was 7-of-11 and grabbed five rebounds.

Seimone Augustus had 12 points while Temeka Johnson and Patty Hanten added 9 apiece for the Tigers. Candace Fields had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington State committed 29 turnovers, with LSU's defensive pressure forcing 21 steals. The Cougars shot 44 percent from the field while LSU shot 60 percent.

LSU plays Florida International in the tournament's title game Saturday.

Kentucky 77, Pacific 61
SEATTLE --
Sharp-shooter Sara Potts nailed a career-high five three-pointers to lead Kentucky over the University of the Pacific 77-61 in the first round of the Seattle Times Husky Classic on Friday in Washington's Bank of America Arena. Potts scored 19 points while Rita Adams also had an impressive night with 13 points, nine assists and four steals.

The Wildcats (2-0) were forced to claw back from a first-half deficit after Pacific jumped out to a 13-2 lead. With a spark from junior center SeSe Helm, Adams and freshman reserve Jenny Pfeiffer, the Cats took a 40-37 lead at the half.

Helm, who charted 12 points and seven boards for the game, led the comeback with 10 in the first half. Pfeiffer came off the bench and poured in eight points in the Wildcat effort. She also ended the game in double-digits with a career-high 10 points.

"It all goes back to the maturity level I've been talking about," UK coach Bernadette Mattox said. "When we got down by 12, we didn't let it rattle us. They stayed focused and fought back. I think they are seeing what it is going to take to win basketball games."

The Cats carried their intensity over into the second half of play, scoring a quick eight points before letting the Tigers reach the hoop. Potts led the attack, netting eight of the first 10 points for UK in the half. The Cats surged on, leading by an eventual 21 points with 6:30 left in the game on a Raquel Ellis lay-up.

The Tigers never again threatened, giving the Cats a 77-61 win and a trip to the tournament finals Saturday night.

"We didn't put our heads down," Potts said. "We are a running team and our bench has depth. We knew we could come back."

UK outrebounded the Tigers 43-35 as Keiko Tate led the Cats with a career-high tying 10 boards. The Cats also dominated the paint, scoring 40 points inside the blocks compared to Pacific's 18.

Pacific (0-3) was led by Nancy Dinges with 13 points. Corinne Wong and Gillian d'Hondt followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Cats are 72-29 in regular season tournaments and have won at least one tournament title in four of the last six years. Washington, who plays St. Bonaventure in the first round, has advanced to the tournament championship game in all 15 years of the Seattle Times Classic, including nine tournament titles.

UCSB 73, Florida 73 OT
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- After leading 61-49 with 9:22 remaining in the game, Florida managed just one point for the rest of the contest, as 24th-ranked UCSB tied up the game and forced overtime to rally for a 73-70 win at the Thunderdome. The loss was the first of the season for the young Gators (3-1), who started the overtime period with four freshmen and a sophomore on the court.

Florida committed 18 turnovers in the second half alone, 27 in the game, and were outrebounded 51-38, as the Gauchos collected 21 offensive boards.

UCSB's Jess Hansen hit a fall-away 3-foot jumper from the side with 20 seconds remaining in overtime and then added one free throw with 9.2 second left to give the Gauchos (2-1) a 73-70 advantage. UF set up a play for its final shot, but Bernice Mosby's try from the right side of the arc bounced off as the horn sounded.

"This is a tough loss," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "An area that has plagued us all season is offensive rebounding and that was the difference. Our young team played hard. They've never been in the this situation before and I thought they handled themselves great. UCSB clearly had the momentum at the end of the game, but we didn't buckle or show any fear and were able to force overtime."

Sophomore Kelly Stevenson had a career-high 16 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the 3-point line, while freshman Bernice Mosby tallied her second double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Sarah Lowe added 12 points with eight rebounds, while sophomore Tamia Williams scored 12.

UCSB's Kristen Mann led all scorers with 18 points, as she netted seven of the Gauchos' final eight points in regulation to force overtime.

In the overtime stanza, Mann opened the scoring with a short jumper, but Lowe and Danielle Santos countered with buckets to give UF a 66-64 lead with 3:16 remaining. UCSB netted four straight points to take the lead, as the teams traded buckets for the next two minutes until Hansen recorded the final three points of the game for the Gauchos.

Florida used an 8-for-12 effort from the 3-point line to spark a 43-35 halftime lead. The Gators added to that lead by scoring the first seven points of the second half to take a 15-point lead, 50-35. But Lisa Willett canned a trey to ignite a 9-2 spree that was cluttered with Gator turnovers, to cut UF's lead to eight, 52-44 with 14:40 to go. Danielle Santos hit a short jumper before Kristen Mann tagged UF for another trey to shrink the advantage to seven, 54-47. Santos added a backdoor layup that helped a 7-2 run and give the Gators a 12-point lead, 61-49, with 9:22 left. However, more turnovers and poor rebounding contributed to UCSB's 9-1 run, as the Gators' lead shrank to just four, 62-58, with just under six minutes remaining. Neither team scored for almost the next minutes until UCSB's Mann hit a long 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining to bring the Gauchos within one, 62-61. Lindsay Taylor then added one free throw to tie the score with 1:11 left in the contest. Brittany Davis' layup didn't fall on UF's next possession, and UCSB collected the rebound. Kelly Stevenson picked off a Gaucho pass on the other end, and the Gators called a timeout with 32.4 seconds remaining. Sarah Lowe then missed a running 4-foot jumper and UCSB garnered another rebound and raced to the other side of the floor and called timeout with 13.5 seconds on the clock.

Florida came out of the gates with four different players hitting from the floor and opened with a quick 8-2 lead. Mia Fisher came off the bench for UCSB and scored five straight points to spark a 7-0 run and bring the Gauchos within one, 10-9. But Kelly Stevenson and Bernice Mosby each connected on 3-pointers during a 6-2 run as the Gators maintained the lead, before USCB scored the next two buckets to get within one again. But UF came through with a three, this time from Tamia Williams, who scored seven points during UF's ensuing 8-3 run as the Gators lead climbed back to six, 24-18, with just over nine minutes remaining in the half. All this was done with All-American Vanessa Hayden on the bench after picking up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game with UF leading 13-9. UCSB logged the next two field goals to close within one before Tara Taylor hit a 10-foot jumper and Williams sank her second trey of the game. The Gauchos netted three points all from the free throw line before Sarah Lowe and Stevenson canned treys to swell UF's lead to 10 points, 35-25, with 4:40 left in the period. Kristen Mann answered with a 4-0 run for UCSB with a pair of free throws and a field goal at the 3:30 mark, the Gauchos first made shot from the floor in nearly five minutes. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, capped by Lowe's 12-foot jumper with two seconds left, as the Gators took a 43-35 halftime lead.

Florida continues its two-game West Coast road trip on Sunday, when the team travels to Long Beach State for a 4 p.m. ET, battle against the 49ers. The game will be televised live on Sunshine Network throughout the state of Florida.