FAYETTEVILLE — Senior day brought out the best in the Arkansas women’s basketball team Sunday.
Sarah Watkins, Quistelle Williams and Erin Gatling - all seniors who were honored prior to the game - combined for 51 points as the Razorbacks beat Ole Miss 93-52 at Walton Arena.
Arkansas (18-11, 6-10 SEC) shot 60 percent and made a season-high 12 three-pointers, one shy of the school record for SEC games. It was Arkansas’ biggest margin of victory in league play since joining the SEC.
“I wish I knew what sparked our offense because I’d put it in a can and I’d bust it open every game,” Arkansas Coach Tom Collen said. “We’ve struggled offensively all season long, but today we got off to a good start, hit some threes. Once we got a lead we started to run away from them.”
Watkins made her first start since Nov. 23 and finished with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Williams had 16, and Gatling and Dominique Wilson each added 13.Six players hit three-pointers, and Arkansas finished 12 of 23 from long range.
“When Sarah has a game like that it creates so much excitement,” Gatling said. “We were firing on all cylinders. When you hit those first couple of shots it sets the pace for the rest of the game.”
Arkansas turned the ball over on six of its first seven possessions and trailed 8-2 before the offense got going. The Razorbacks hit four three-pointers, including two by Calli Berna, over a three minute stretch and led 17-12 with 13:30 left in the half. Watkins scored 18 points in the first half as Arkansas built a 46-30 lead.
A 38-14 run in the second half put the game out of reach for Ole Miss (9-20, 2-14), which was playing its final game of the season after self-imposing a postseason ban because of NCAA violations.
“Arkansas came out with a lot of energy and effort and their seniors were very driven,” Ole Miss Coach Brett Frank said. “They were hitting their shots at a high level. Any time we would make a run they would answer back with a great run, a great series.”
Valencia McFarland led Ole Miss with 16 points. Gracie Frizzell, a freshman guard from Little Rock who played at Central Arkansas Christian, added eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including two three pointers.
The victory gives Arkansas the No. 8 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament in Duluth, Ga. The Razorbacks will play ninth-seeded Florida at 11 a.m. Thursday. Arkansas lost to Florida 69-58 in the season’s only meeting Thursday in Gainesville, Fla.
Collen said he knows the Razorbacks have a lot of work to do to enter in the conversation for an NCAA Tournament berth. If it doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament field, Arkansas has already indicated it will play in the Women’s NIT if it receives an invitation.
“We’ve had a rough schedule and we’ve lost all of our close games, but maybe if we shoot the ball like we did today we can go down to the SEC Tournament and make a run,” Collen said. “We probably need to make a run deep in the tournament, some say we have to win it [to make the NCAA Tournament], but if you win two or three down there and beat some ranked teams it’ll get us some attention and hopefully keep us on the bubble.
“We’ve done everything we need to do to play in the NIT. We’re holding out for the NCAA, but we’ve done what we need to do to play, and try to host, in the NIT.”
NO. 10 KENTUCKY 78, NO. 8 TENNESSEE 65
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A’dia Mathies scored 13 second-half points, including back-to-back three-pointers during Kentucky’s 19-6 run, to help the Wildcats pull away from Tennessee.
Mathies, Kentucky’s No. 2 career scorer, finished with 16 points in her home finale. Jennifer O’Neill added four three-pointers for 16 points as Kentucky (25-4, 13-3) claimed the No. 2 seed for this week’s SEC tournament.
Kentucky set the tone throughout but emerged from a 36-32 halftime lead with a big run set up by three steals and two rebounds by Samarie Walker (10 points). That put the Wildcats up 55-38 and they stayed safely ahead to make Matthew Mitchell the program’s winningest coach with 139 victories.
Regular-season champion Tennessee (23-6, 14-2) played without center Isabelle Harrison, who sustained a right knee injury Thursday.
NO. 11 GEORGIA 55, VANDERBILT 50
ATHENS, Ga. - Jasmine Hassell scored 16 points and Georgia rebounded from a disappointing SEC loss to beat Vanderbilt.
Georgia’s shooters could only improve after shooting 18.2 percent in a 50-38 loss to Mississippi State on Thursday. The Bulldogs (24-5, 12-4) shot 35.8 percent (19 of 53) Sunday, though they only made 2 of 11 three-pointers.
Erika Ford put Georgia up 15-13 with two free throws midway through the first half, and the Bulldogs never relinquished the lead.
Jasmine James added 10 points and five assists for Georgia. Jasmine Lister led Vanderbilt (19-10, 9-7) with 17 points, and Tiffany Clarke added 13 points and nine rebounds.
LSU 67, NO. 13 TEXAS A&M 52
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Theresa Plaisance scored 16 points and Danielle Ballard had 15 points and 11 rebounds Sunday to lead LSU to a victory over Texas A&M in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Ballard, a freshman, posted her second consecutive double-double for the Tigers (19-10, 10-6 SEC), who have won six in a row entering next weekend’s SEC tournament. Ballard had 14 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday in a victory over Alabama.
Bianca Lutley had 14 points and five assists and Adrienne Webb scored 11 points for LSU.
Kelsey Bone led the Aggies (21-9, 11-5) with 13 points. Courtney Williams scored 11.
Texas A&M led 24-20 at halftime. The Aggies were 0 for 8 from three-point range.
NO. 14 SOUTH CAROLINA 67, FLORIDA 56
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Ashley Bruner scored 16 points and Aleighsa Welch and Ieasia Walker added 14 each as South Carolina defeated Florida.
The Gamecocks (23-6, 11-5) set a school record for SEC victories in a season and tied their program record for regular-season victories.
Khadijah Sessions’ three-pointer started a 9-2 run that gave the Gamecocks a 53-44 lead with 6:32 remaining. They led 61-49 with 3:41 left after a three-point play and another free throw by Welch and a jumper by Bruner.
Welch also had 10 rebounds, and Walker tied her career high with eight assists.
Sydney Moss scored 16 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Gators (17-13, 6-10). Jaterra Bonds added 12 points before fouling out and Jennifer George had 10 points and blocked four shots.
SEC Tournament At Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME All times Central
Game 1 Miss. St. vs. Alabama, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Game 2 Arkansas vs. Florida, 11 a.m. Game 3 Game 1 winner vs. So. Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
Game 4 Missouri vs. Vanderbilt, 5 p.m. Game 5 Auburn vs. LSU, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Game 6 Game 2 winner vs. Tennessee, 11 a.m.
Game 7 Game 3 winner vs. Texas A&M, 1:30 p.m.
Game 8 Game 4 winner vs. Kentucky, 5 p.m.
Game 9 Game 5 winner vs. Georgia, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Arkansas 93, Mississippi 52 South Carolina 67, Florida 56 Georgia 55, Vanderbilt 50 LSU 67, Texas A&M 52 Missouri 88, Alabama 64 Auburn 74, Mississippi State 65 Tennessee 78, Kentucky 65
Sports, Pages 17 on 03/04/2013