Nifty fifty

Arkansas rolls to 50-point win against overmatched Tulsa

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Arkansas' Taylah Thomas makes a pass while Tulsa's Alexis Gaulden applies pressure Wednesday Dec. 11, 2019 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Arkansas' Taylah Thomas makes a pass while Tulsa's Alexis Gaulden applies pressure Wednesday Dec. 11, 2019 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- There are going to be games this season where No. 21 Arkansas relies on its defense.

Wednesday night was one of those times, as it got a game-high 20 points from Alexis Tolefree and limited Tulsa to 28 percent shooting in a 91-41 victory at Bud Walton Arena.

No. 21 Arkansas 91, Tulsa 41

Tulsa^2^14^11^14—^41

Arkansas^14^27^25^25—^91

Tulsa (3-7): Richards 9, Rodriguez 9, Lescay 8, Duerr 6, Brady 3, Elliott 2, Gaulden 2, Hrafnkelsottir 2.

Arkansas (9-1): Tolefree 20, Gaulden 14, Barnum 14, Dungee 8, Thomas 6, Daniels 6, Ramirez 5, Davis 5, Hughes 5, Doumbia 4, Spangler 4

3-point FG—Tulsa 0-16, Arkansas 11-32 (Tolefree 6). Assists—Tulsa 9 (Rodriguez 4), Arkansas 16 (Ramirez 4, Gaulden 4, Doumbia 4). Steals—Tulsa 5 (Elliott 2), Arkansas 7 (Tolefree 2). Blocked shots—Tulsa 5 (Brotons 2), Arkansas 4 (Barnum 2). Turnovers—Tulsa 19 (Rodriguez 6), Arkansas 8 (Dungee 3).

Technical Fouls: None. Fouled out: None. Officials: Douglas Knight, Eric Brewton, Laura Morris.

Attendance: 1,357

Even a sluggish start on the offensive end failed to diminish a dominating performance for Arkansas as the Razorbacks' two leading scorers combined for fewer than 15 points.

"It felt like we still thought it was a 7 o'clock tipoff," Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. "We got off to a slow start, but we leaned on our defensive effort, and we got refocused from there."

Arkansas (9-1) led 14-2 after a quarter and was up by 25 at halftime. The Golden Hurricane didn't eclipse the 30-point mark until midway through the fourth quarter.

"I wanted to get a number of our bench players some minutes with our starters at the end," Neighbors said. "They were excited to be out there."

All 11 players that got into the game scored for the Razorbacks. Erynn Barnum had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while A'Tyanna Gaulden had 14 points of her own.

Tulsa, who is led by former Arkansas coach Matilda Mossman, missed all 16 3-pointers that it took and was only 7 of 12 at the free-throw line.

Normal Razorback starters Jailyn Mason and Kiara Williams were held out of the contest for precautionary reasons, Neighbors said, while leading scorers Chelsea Dungee and Amber Ramirez combined for only 13 points on 10-of-24 shooting.

"They were spreading it around, even though they weren't having great nights shooting," Neighbors said of Dungee and Ramirez. "The thing that impressed me the most was they were the most active kids on the bench cheering for our players at the end with Avery and Rokia hitting 3s and Erynn getting that double-double."

Arkansas won the rebounding battle 52-35 and forced 19 Golden Hurricane turnovers, while only committing eight of its own. That comes in under its average of 10.7, which is second-best in the NCAA and leads all Power 5 conference teams.

Tolefree's 20 points came up just one shy of her career-high 21, which she set against Kansas State on Saturday.

The Razorbacks will be back in action at home Sunday, facing Northwestern State. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Preps Sports on 12/12/2019

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