Sports

BLOSSOMS HOLD OFF UAFS FOR FIRST WIN

By Sean Saunders/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, November 21, 2009 11:44 PM CST

MONTICELLO — The Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms saw an 18-point lead nearly vanish before holding on for an 88-81 victory over Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday at Steelman Fieldhouse as part of the third annual Dr. Mary Jane Gilbert Classic.

The Lady Lions (0-2) went into the bonus with 12:04 remaining in the game and used that to stage a furious rally. Fouls became a problem for UAM (1-1) throughout the tournament, as its foes shot a combined 76 free throws in two games.

“I’m trying to get my team more aggressive,” UAM coach Chris Ratcliff said. “All throughout the exhibition games, we haven’t been playing much defense, so I made it a point for us to get on the ball. We’ve been playing a lot more aggressive, but we’ve been playing a lot with our hands and not our feet. And since we’ve been playing with our hands, we’ve been getting fouls.”

But while UAFS was going to the the line often in the second period, missed free throws plagued the Lady Lions. They connected on only 18 of their 31 free-throw attempts for 58.1 percent.

“It’s the same thing that happened to us last night,” UAFS coach Louis Whorton said. “We shot 51 percent from the free-throw line last night and we didn’t do much better tonight. I don’t know what it is. I guess it might be just nerves of playing this early in the season.”

UAFS cut the deficit to four points twice in the final five minutes but couldn’t quite get over the hump. After UAM made it 74-56, the Lady Lions went on a 10-0 run to cut it to single-digits before Emili Slamons hit a 3-pointer to push it back to 11.

UAM held the lead the whole time after the first 2 minutes mainly because of hot shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. The Blossoms hit 8 of 17 3-pointers in the first half en route to 14 for the game. They’ve hit 26 3’s in their last two games.

“My teams have always been great shooting teams,” Ratcliff said. “We got some kids that can shoot it. We run this shooting drill in practice and I’m like, ‘These kids are killing this drill.’ That’s why I think this could be the best shooting team I’ve ever had.”

After the Slamons 3-pointer, UAFS wouldn’t go away quietly, going on a 7-0 run to make the score 77-73. After UAM pushed the lead back to nine with a 7-2 spurt that was capped by a LaChasity Seale 3-pointer, the Lady Lions again got back to four with a 6-1 effort. But when they had an opportunity to make it a one-possession game, they committed their 29th turnover to allow the Blossoms to ice their first win of the year at the free-throw line.

UAFS was able to stay around with 55.8 percent shooting from the field, including 60.9 percent in the second half, and the efforts of sophomore guard Tracey Parsons. Parsons scored a game-high 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor.

“Tracey is an outstanding guard,” Whorton said. “She kind of grew last year as a freshman for us, and she was not a point guard until we got her, and because of injuries, we had to move her there, and she’s continued to do a better job of it each game.”

The Blossoms had five players reach double-figures in scoring and nearly had a sixth. Chelsea Johnson, who was selected to the all-tournament team, led the way with 19 points mainly off of four 3’s and 5 of 7 free throws. Seale hit 4 of 9 3-pointers while scoring 15 points, Nykita Gordon had 13 points to go along with eight assists, Erica Williams had 12 points and Slamons had 10.

UAM’s 3-point percentage dropped off considerably in the second half along with its shooting percentage in general. But the Blossoms made up for it with a 39-34 rebounding edge, including a 20-11 advantage on the offensive glass against a UAFS side that owned a significant size advantage.

“That’s the way it’s been all year so far,” Ratcliff said. “We’ve been 5-8 or 5-9 going up against 6-3 the last month. We’re starting to get some size back, but we’ve been making rebounding a focus the last three games or so. Ever since the Northwestern State game (Nov. 13), we’ve been hitting the block-out drill hard. It’s been nothing but block out, block out, block out.”

Besides Parsons, UAFS had three others in double-figures for scoring. Vasha Sanders had 14 points, and Ashley Arnold and Lyndsey Bockelman had 12 points apiece. Bockelman also had 10 rebounds and three blocks.

UAM snags its first in-region win as well as its first win. The Blossoms face two more in-region opponents in St. Mary’s on Tuesday and Incarnate Word on Wednesday, both in San Antonio.

LeMoyne-Owen 71, Arkansas-Monticello 70

LeMoyne-Owen College held the lead only once, but it was enough to pull off a road victory over the UAM men’s squad Saturday at Steelman Fieldhouse.

LaDarius Johnson hit 1 of 2 free throws to break a 70-all tie with 39.2 seconds remaining. UAM turned the ball over on an offensive foul with 18.3 seconds remaining, and after the Magicians (1-1) missed a pair of free throws with 5.1 seconds left, UAM’s last-ditch shot went begging.

“There are just so many mental mistakes that you make when you have so many new players,” Newell said. “We’re still trying to find out who can handle the ball in pressure situations, who can make the right decisions, who can score and who can guard people. We’re just a work in progress. That’s just the way it is.”

UAM had a pair of players step up at different times during the second half. Senior transfer Chris Paige scored nine points in the final period, including a stretch where he scored eight straight points, and Hamid Ford tried to will his team to victory by scoring 14 of the team’s final 17 points.

But 16 second-half turnovers ended up costing UAM (1-1) a chance at its first regular-season win.

“Hamid is still trying to make plays that he’s not capable of making right now,” Newell said. “He’s limping right now because he had surgery on his foot. He didn’t do a very good job of making the extra pass.”

Ford finished with a team-high 18 points, connecting on 3 of 4 3-pointers. Senior Derek Easter filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Jeremy LaGarde added 11 points while Anthony Lacey chipped in with 10 and nine rebounds.

UAM’s 49-31 rebounding advantage allowed it to maintain a lead for most of the game. But LeMoyne-Owen used 11 3-pointers to UAM’s five to overcome as much as a 10-point deficit.

UAM resumes play in the CBE Classic when it plays three games in as many days, all against Division I competition. The Boll Weevils begin with Western Carolina on Monday followed by Duquesne on Tuesday and Binghamton on Wednesday. All will be played in Cullowhee, N.C., and the Binghamton game is a regular-season contest.

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