FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ women’s basketball team has a chance to erase the one glaring blight on its NCAA Tournament resume.
The Razorbacks laid an egg when they played Tennessee in front of a national TV audience Jan. 8, losing 69-38 at Walton Arena. Arkansas scored a program worst 18 first-half points, shot less than 19 percent (10 of 55) from the field and was out rebounded 47-24.
Arkansas (20-6, 9-5 SEC) has a chance to redeem itself tonight when it travels to play the No. 10 Lady Volunteers (20-7, 11-3) at 6 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net, giving NCAA Tournament selectors another chance to look at the Razorbacks.
“We had a tough game with them the last time,” Arkansas Coach Tom Collen said. “We clearly did not play well in that game. Now we’re a different team, we’re a better team.
“Our kids feel like they have nothing to lose. It’s an opportunity for them to redeem themselves and find out how much they’ve improved.”
Arkansas junior center Sarah Watkins scored two points in the first meeting after getting into foul trouble. She said the Razorbacks want to make up for the poor showing but are trying to remember their season-long mindset of forgetting about past games.
“Everybody wants to show that we just didn’t play very well that game,” Watkins said. “We’ve also left that game behind us, so we try not to think about it. We’re focusing on Tennessee like it’s the first time we play them.”
The Lady Vols have owned the Razorbacks with a 23-1 series advantage and an average margin of victory of more than 23 points. Making matters even tougher, Tennessee has lost only 39 games at home to unranked teams in Pat Summitt’s 38 years.
Collen is resolute in his belief his team is NCAA Tournament-worthy, regardless of how the Razorbacks fare against Tennessee or South Carolina on Sunday. He believes an upset of the Lady Vols would improve the Razorbacks’ postseason seeding by perhaps three spots.
“If you’re thinking about trying to get a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, performing well on national TV is better than performing poorly,” Collen said. “More than anything else, it’s important for us to find out where we’re at.”
The Razorbacks started conference play with four consecutive losses before rebounding to win nine of their next 10, including a program best eight in a row. The surge has put Arkansas in a fourway tie with Georgia, South Carolina and LSU for third in the SEC with a chance to earn a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament.
The top four teams in the regular season earn byes. Regardless of whether it beats Tennessee, Arkansas has to win its final conference game at South Carolina (20-7, 9-5) to stay in the running for a top-four finish.
That game will have huge implications in the race for a top-four seed, as will games LSU (19-8, 9-5) has against Vanderbilt (20-6, 6-6) and Georgia (20-7, 9-5).
Sports, Pages 15 on 02/23/2012