Free throws cost Arkansas with #12 LSU

FAYETTEVILLE – Senior Shameka Christon carried the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team once again with 27 points, but despite leading by as many as 16 early, the Lady Razorbacks fell to the 12th-ranked LSU Lady Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville on Thursday night, 73-65. The loss drops the Lady Razorbacks to 13-4 on the season and evens their Southeastern Conference record at 2-2 while LSU improves to 16-2 and 3-1 in the SEC. "I think that we played a great first half and may have surprised them," Arkansas head coach Susie Gardner said. "We looked young late in the second half." "We’re upset," Christon said. "But we have no one to blame but ourselves. We just let it slip away." LSU tied the contest for the first time since the opening tip with 2:11 to play when Temeka Johnson drove the lane and hit a scoop layup to knot the game at 65. The Tigers took their first lead at 1:33 when Augustus hit her 20th points from the paint. A key to LSU’s comeback was Arkansas’ inability to hit its free throws. The Lady Razorbacks missed seven consecutive shots from the charity stripe, in the final six minutes giving the Tigers confidence down the stretch. "The story of the game was that they hit their free throws and we didn’t," Gardner said. For the game, the Lady Razorbacks hit just 8-20 from the free throw line where the Tigers nailed 22-25. "It was a game of two halves," LSU associate head coach Pokey Chatman said. "In the first half we did not execute." The Lady Razorbacks jumped out on the Lady Tigers early, taking a seven point lead by the first media timeout, 15-8. Led by a two-pronged attack from senior Shameka Christon and sophomore Kristin Moore, each with six, the Lady’Backs were able to force the Tigers hand with solid defense and hit six of their first seven shots to build the advantage. Arkansas picked up its first 10-point lead with 13:25 in the first on a pair of free throws by Ruby Vaden and continued to capitalize on what ended up being a six-plus-minute scoreless streak for the Tigers. The Lady Razorback lead grew to as many as 15 in the opening period, but LSU came back with a 8-0 run over two minutes to get back within seven. The teams went into the locker room with Arkansas holding a 10-point, 33-23 lead. The Lady Razorbacks began the second stansa with the same intensity that allowed them to build their solid lead. Scoring the first four points of the period, LSU struggled to break down Arkansas’ defense. That was until 14 minutes were left in regulation when the Tigers began to chip away at the Arkansas lead, taking the contest back to single digits for the first time since the first half with 11:35 left. A Scholanda Hosten three from the top of the key with 9:44 to play brought LSU to seven, but the Lady Razorbacks turned to Christon once again who buried a 19-footer to keep the Tigers in their cage. Arkansas did manage to increase the lead to 10 once again, but four consecutive free throws by Simona Augustus brought LSU to within five with six minutes to play. An Augustus jumper at 4:56 made it a three-point contest prompting Gardner to call a timeout to regroup. After the break, Arkansas made an errant pass that was intercepted and brought down the court to make it a one-point game, but a Moore jumper followed by a charge call taken by Christon and a subsequent turn-around jumper increased the Lady’Back lead to five. Christon led all scorers with 27 while Moore also had a solid night with 19. For the Tigers it was Augustus’ 22 points, 20 in the second half, along with Hodges 15, Johnson’s 12 and Hosten’s 10. The Lady Razorbacks are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Auburn Tigers at Bud Walton Arena beginning at 2:00 p.m.