Gardner resigns as Arkansas women's basketball coach

3/2/2007 8:35 PM

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -Arkansas women's basketball coach Susie Gardner resigned Friday after her team faltered down the stretch for the second straight season.

The Lady Razorbacks lost their 10th straight Thursday, getting knocked out of the Southeastern Conference tournament in a 72-57 defeat to Kentucky. The Lady Razorbacks ended an injury-plagued 2005-06 season with nine consecutive losses.

``We didn't turn the corner as fast as I had hoped, and different circumstances seemed to prevent that from happening as quickly as I wanted,'' Gardner said in a statement Friday. ``The opportunity to work with the wonderful people at the university, the great supporters we have at Arkansas and to coach great players has been something I will never forget.''

Women's athletic director Bev Lewis said she met with Gardner on Friday.

``We appreciate Susie's efforts, and wish her well in her future endeavors,'' Lewis said. ``We talked at length today, and we were in agreement that there was a need for change.''

Gardner took over as Lady Razorbacks coach before the 2003-04 season and went 64-54. But Arkansas never made the NCAA tournament with her at the helm. The previous coach, Gary Blair, went to the Final Four in 1998 and had made the tournament three straight seasons when he left Arkansas for Texas A&M in '03.

Arkansas' bizarre 2006-07 season included a school-record 15-1 start, then a school-record losing streak at the end that dropped the Lady Razorbacks' overall mark to 18-13. Arkansas was in the Top 25 earlier this season, but stumbled to a 3-11 regular-season record in the tough SEC.

The Lady Razorbacks were 16-40 in SEC regular-season games under Gardner.

Gardner played at Georgia during the mid-1980s and was a head coach at Anderson College (1988-92) and Austin Peay (1995-2003) before coming to Arkansas. Gardner took Austin Peay to the NCAA tournament three straight times before joining the Lady Razorbacks.