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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee needed a halftime pep talk to
shake off the effects of Saturday's loss to rival Connecticut, but
regained form in time to avoid another defeat.
|  | | Tennessee's Kristen Clement drives past Arkansas' Wendi Willits, left. |
After suffering through a subpar first-half performance against
unranked Arkansas, the No. 2 Lady Vols used a superb second-half
effort to rally for a 79-69 win Monday night.
Kara Lawson scored a career-high 25 points and Michelle Snow
added 24 to lead the Lady Vols, who earned the school's 800th victory.
Tennessee (12-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from the
loss to No. 1 Connecticut despite a poor first-half performance
that left it trailing by 13 points at halftime. Arkansas (9-4, 0-1)
was led by Wendi Willits with 16 points.
Tennessee recovered quickly in the second half, using a 20-6 run
in the first 6½ minutes to retake the lead at 46-45. Lawson, who
also had 10 rebounds, and Snow led the offensive charge, combining
for 13 points in the spurt.
Another slump by the Lady Razorbacks -- who failed to score
during a 7-minute stretch against a tenacious Tennessee defense --
allowed the Lady Vols to take control at 64-52 with seven minutes
left. The Lady Vols caused 27 turnovers.
"We looked like we just wanted to get the first half out of the
way," said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. "We were flat and showed
little emotion. I told them at halftime we would have to turn it
around with defense. They responded well in the second half.
"I have no idea why we only played 20 minutes, but we'll take it."
Tamika Catchings, who added 13 points, and Snow carried the
offensive load down the stretch for Tennessee. Willits tried to
rally Arkansas, hitting two late 3-pointers, but the Lady
Razorbacks couldn't challenge Tennessee in the final minutes.
"We were a lot more focused in the second half," Lawson said.
"Our emotion spurred us on defense. When we have emotion we are
tough to beat. We're still trying to show emotion for a full game."
A huge rebounding edge (52-22) also made a difference for the
Lady Vols in the second half. They scored 24 second-chance points.
Guards Lawson and Semeka Randall had 10 rebounds each.
"Lawson and Randall's offensive rebounds were the difference,"
Arkansas coach Gary Blair said. "We had no answer for their guards
going in for offensive rebounds."
Tennessee was at its worst in the first half.
The Lady Vols struggled offensively the entire half, shooting
just 27 percent from the field. Arkansas didn't shoot much better
in the first half, but managed to stay close and took its first
lead at 9-8 on Celia Anderson's layup at 12:20.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Tennessee's April McDivitt and Lawson
allowed the Lady Vols to regain the lead, but a 16-2 run by the
Lady Razorbacks gave Arkansas a 26-18 lead with 4:24 left in the
half.
Tennessee's play was lifeless the rest of the first half.
"We learned a lot about this team," Summitt said. "It
concerns me that we didn't come out with great intensity. What's
important is that it concerns them. I told them that we can't feel
sorry for ourselves (for losing to Connecticut). Nobody else in
America does.
"We have some great competitors, but we didn't come out of the
gates the way I thought we would."
Tennessee fought back behind Lawson, who hit another 3-pointer
and short jump shot in the closing minutes. But Arkansas didn't
wilt, outscoring the Lady Vols 13-10 in a late first-half run that
gave the Lady Razorbacks a 39-26 halftime lead.
Arkansas hit six of six free throws in the final three minutes of
the first half.
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