Defense not enough for Lady'Backs against AIA

FAYETTEVILLE – Senior April Seggebruch poured in 17 points to lead the University of Arkansas Lady Razorback basketball team, but her efforts came up short as Arkansas fell to the Athletes in Action, 62-57, at Bud Walton Arena on Thursday night. “We held them to 62 points, but we’ve got to find a way to score more on our end,” UA head coach Susie Gardner said. “This was probably one of our worst shooting games in some time.” Arkansas shot only 28.8% from the field, but almost made up for its poor offense with a defense that forced 27 turnovers including several key opportunities in the closing minutes. “We did some good things on defense like the shot clock violations and turnovers, but we’ve got to hit the open shots that came from those defensive plays,” Gardner said. “We’re still looking for who will be the player to step up for this team.” Down by as many as seven, Arkansas came back to tie the game at 54 thanks to tough full court defense and timely shooting, but as the clock wound down, AIA kept a level head and took a four-point lead once again forcing Arkansas to call a timeout with 1:51 left on the clock. Undaunted by the defecit, Arkansas’ Rochelle Vaughn drew a foul and hit both her shots from the charity stripe before Kristin Peoples picked up a steal and foul, hitting one of two susequent shots to bring Arkansas to within one. The Lady’Backs had a chance to pull ahead with 45 seconds after Peoples drew a charge on AIA’s Katie Voight, but a missed layup on the offensive end forced the Lady’Backs to foul to keep Athlete’s in Action from running down the clock. “We’ve got to be more consistant in the game,” Vaughn said. “We’re showing it in practice, but we’ve got to have it carry over to our games.” Still with a chance to take the lead, the Lady’Backs launched a semi-open three from the top of the key which hit the rim but would not fall and bounced out of bounds. AIA hit their free throws down the stretch to ice the contest. The Lady Razorbacks got off to a slow start by spotting the visitors seven points before freshman Kristina Andjelkovic connected on Arkansas’ first bucket, a 15-foot jumper. After trading baskets, the Lady’Backs went on a 5-0 run over the next two minutes to take their first lead of the game at 12:16 on a Kristin Moore layup. After AIA rallied, the Lady’Backs turned to their three-point game to once again regain the lead in the closing moments, but a trey by AIA’s Julie Velleux with 3.9 seconds remaining gave the visitors a 29-26 lead at the half. Arkansas opened the second period quickly by giving the ball to Seggebruch at the top of the key for a three to tie the game 29. Following the basket, neither squad was able to take a clear advantage in the contest, but the Athlete’s in Action did control the upper hand on the scoreboard as they led most of the way. The Lady Razorback loss is also the fourth time in nine career meetings that Arkansas has been defeated by the Athlete’s in Action, but first since 1999. The Lady Razorbacks are back in action on Friday, Nov. 19, when they open the regular season against Alabama State University at Bud Walton Arena at 7:00 p.m.