Front row, from left: Debbie Olivas, Shea Henderson, Shannon Jones, Kimberly Wilson, Kelly Johnson, Allyson Twiggs, Taqueta Roberson, Tracy Eaton. Back row, from left: manager Susanne Clark, assistant coach Sue Donohoe, head coach Gary Blair, Stephanie Bloomer, Michelle Thacker, Rochelle Masengill, Carrie Parker, Yolanda Dickson, assistant coach Tom Collen, assistant coach Amber Nicholas, manager Nita Thompson.
Italy
1993-94
Staff
The longest tenured coach in Razorback women’s basketball history, Gary Blair will be forever remembered for two improbable runs against the odds and one of the most famous players in school history. Taking over after a successful run at Stephen F. Austin, Blair promised to take Arkansas the next step toward the Final Four. His first recruiting class made good on the pledge. Led by four-time AP All-America honorable mention Christy Smith, Arkansas became the first unranked team in NCAA history to reach the Women’s Final Four. Before the epic 1998 West Regional run, Blair led Arkansas into the NCAA tournament in 1995 thanks to Smith’s SEC Freshman of the Year effort to rally Arkansas from a 1-3 league start to a 7-4 close to tie for fourth. Blair was named national coach of the year by two publications after the 1998 season. A disappointing 1999 saw Arkansas become one of a handful of Final Four teams to fail to return to the tournament, but Blair rallied the team to the 1999 WNIT Championship in front of a school, state and then WNIT record crowd of 14,163 at Walton Arena. His final three seasons were NCAA trips before departing to become the head coach at Texas A&M in 2004.
Arkansas Hoops
Coach Gary Blair 10 years, 198-120 (1993-2003)
Kelly Johnson
Front row, from left: senior guard Debbie Olivas, sophomore forward Toya Marshall, freshman point guard Christy Smith, sophomore guard Kimberly Wilson, junior post Kelly Johnson, freshman guard Tiffany Wright, senior guard Allyson Twiggs, sophomore guard Taqueta Roberson, freshman guard Robin Alpe. Back row, from left: manager David Weaver, manager Amy Clement, assistant coach Kit Kyle, head coach Gary Blair, freshman post Karen Jones, senior post Stephanie Bloomer, senior post Rochelle Masengill, sophomore post Carrie Parker, freshman guard Treva Christensen, assistant coach Tom Collen, assistant coach Amber Nicholas, trainer Ruth DeBro, manager Tom Halbmaier.
Razorbacks Review RECORDS HISTORY
1994-95 1995 MIDWEST REGION SECOND ROUND
After starting league play 1-3, including a heartbreaking one-point loss to Ole Miss, not a lot of folks held high hopes for Arkansas’ SEC finish, except for Christy Smith. The future SEC Freshman of the Year had proved tenacious in the non-conference schedule, and embarked on an improbable run of playing every minute of every SEC game -- both regular season and tournament. Her grit combined with the highly-touted freshmen recruits and the experience of seniors Stephanie Bloomer and Allyson Twiggs powered Arkansas to a 6-1 finish in SEC play to tie for fourth place overall. The highlight of the run was an upset of eighth-ranked Vanderbilt. Winning eight of the last 10 games of the season, Arkansas was rewarded with a sixth seed in the NCAA Midwest Region. The 1995 team also set the school record for free throw percentage (.770).
SytIa Messer
UNIVERSITY
Front row, from left: Robin Alpe, Roxanne McCrory, Christy Smith, Taqueta Robertson, Kelly Johnson, Kimberly Wilson, Tennille Adams, Toya Marshall, Sytia Messer, Carrie Satterfield; back row, from left: Tom Collen, assistant coach; Kit Kyle, assistant coach; Amy Clement, manager; Tom Halbmaier, manager; Tiffany Wright, Carrie Parker, Shaka Massey, Karen Jones, Treva Christensen, David Weaver, manager; Ruth DeBro, trainer; Debbie Olivas, student assistant coach; Amber Nicholas, assistant coach; Gary Blair, head coach.
OPPONENT INFO/RECORDS
1995-96 PRE-SEASON WNIT RUNNER-UP || NWIT 4TH PLACE
Preseason top 10 for the first time since the SWC glory days and set to play in the Preseason WNIT, Arkansas looked ready to roll into the SEC elite. The only loss in an impressive start of 13-1 came in the final minute of the title game to ninth-ranked Colorado. But at the start of conference play, Bama stunned UA at home in overtime, setting off a five-game losing streak. Just as the team recovered with back-to-back league wins, Arkansas lost both the game and its star point guard at Kentucky as Christy Smith’s season ended with a torn ACL. Arkansas rallied again, notably with the overtime win in the rescheduled Snow Game against Auburn, but it was not enough to overcome the slow league start. Instead, Arkansas headed to Amarillo for what proved to be the final NWIT.
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