Summit on the Hill
Arkansas looks for first SEC win hosting No. 10 Lady Vols
Derek Oxford
Issue date: 1/21/09 Section: Sports
Basketball games last 40 minutes, but early in the Southeastern Conference season, the Arkansas women's basketball team has still yet to put an entire game together.
"At times, this team has stepped up and played at a pretty high level," Arkansas coach Tom Collen said. "They just really haven't come close to doing it for more than about 30 minutes a game."
In a 70-61 loss to No. 6 Auburn on Sunday, Arkansas (11-7, 0-3) put together a pretty solid night, but stalled at times, allowing the Tigers to pull away.
"The 10 minutes of lapses we have, they're not always together," Collen said. "We'll have two to three minutes of lapses where we just let down and other teams make runs on us. We give up easy things."
The lapses are certainly not what Collen has counted on from his players, but realizes that it is something his team will have to fight through, especially with perennial SEC juggernaut Tennessee coming to Fayetteville tomorrow night.
"It's the difference between maybe a veteran team and a young team, especially when your young kids are your guards," Collen said of the lapses.
Ricketts steps up
Freshman guard Ceira Ricketts recorded Arkansas' first triple-double in school history and tied records in doing so Sunday against Auburn.
The 5-foot-9 Louisville, Ky. native had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, with only four turnovers, in 38 minutes of play.
"I thought Ceira Ricketts was fantastic," Collen said. "I think she showed me what it is I've been driving her to do since day one, and that's just be more assertive, be more aggressive. When she does that, I think we're a better team offensively."
Collen has a lot of expectations for the freshman, but acknowledged that good things will happen if she is making plays and controlling the offense.
"She probably gets tired of me saying it, but I want her to push the ball in gaps and push the ball into one-on-one situations," Collen said. "[It] creates opportunities probably more than she wants to do it, but I think when she does do it, good things are going to happen."
"At times, this team has stepped up and played at a pretty high level," Arkansas coach Tom Collen said. "They just really haven't come close to doing it for more than about 30 minutes a game."
In a 70-61 loss to No. 6 Auburn on Sunday, Arkansas (11-7, 0-3) put together a pretty solid night, but stalled at times, allowing the Tigers to pull away.
"The 10 minutes of lapses we have, they're not always together," Collen said. "We'll have two to three minutes of lapses where we just let down and other teams make runs on us. We give up easy things."
The lapses are certainly not what Collen has counted on from his players, but realizes that it is something his team will have to fight through, especially with perennial SEC juggernaut Tennessee coming to Fayetteville tomorrow night.
"It's the difference between maybe a veteran team and a young team, especially when your young kids are your guards," Collen said of the lapses.
Ricketts steps up
Freshman guard Ceira Ricketts recorded Arkansas' first triple-double in school history and tied records in doing so Sunday against Auburn.
The 5-foot-9 Louisville, Ky. native had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, with only four turnovers, in 38 minutes of play.
"I thought Ceira Ricketts was fantastic," Collen said. "I think she showed me what it is I've been driving her to do since day one, and that's just be more assertive, be more aggressive. When she does that, I think we're a better team offensively."
Collen has a lot of expectations for the freshman, but acknowledged that good things will happen if she is making plays and controlling the offense.
"She probably gets tired of me saying it, but I want her to push the ball in gaps and push the ball into one-on-one situations," Collen said. "[It] creates opportunities probably more than she wants to do it, but I think when she does do it, good things are going to happen."
Be the first to comment on this story