Arkansas women get balanced effort during exhibition game in Italy

PONTE BUGGIANESE, Italy – A team-best 16 points by newcomer Alexis Tolefree paced the Arkansas women’s basketball squad in the second game of their international tour of Italy as they took on the Italian Select team in Ponte Buggianese on Monday.

Tolefree’s 16 points ties for sixth in program history for an international game for the Razorbacks. A’Tyanna Gaulden added 12 points followed by 10 points each from Taylah Thomas and Chelsea Dungee as head coach Mike Neighbors again platooned players into the game in five-minute shifts.

Junior Kiara Williams led the team with 11 rebounds which is second in program history in an international game.

Arkansas opened the contest on a 12-0 run and never trailed in

the game. Neighbors’ first group included Sydney Stout, Bailey Zimmerman, Amber Ramirez, Thomas and Rokia Doumbia. The combination got out to an 8-0 start in the first five minutes.

The Razorbacks played nine combinations of players winning eight of the periods they played. Arkansas had an 8-0 run in the second quarter and a 9-0 run in the third frame for the 85-49 win.

Arkansas is scheduled to visit the Accademia Gallery and view “The David” among other works of art today. The team leaves Florence mid-afternoon traveling to their final stop at Lake Como. Arkansas takes on the International All-Star team on Wednesday before returning home.

Arkansas woke up in Naples Thursday morning and boarded a bus to check out the sites at Pompei. The team returned to Rome before making the 30-minute drive to Honey Sport City to take on Deep 3 Select in the first game of the trip.

Neighbors and his staff divided the Razorbacks into groups of five players who played five minutes each. The Razorbacks platooned eight groups into the game giving the staff a chance to see everyone in game action. Arkansas outscored Deep

3 Select 16-9 in the final frame for the 6759 win.

The unofficial stats had Williams with 11 points followed by redshirt sophomore Dungee with 10 points. Monk added nine points followed by freshman Doumbia with seven points for Arkansas. Williams and Monk both made five free throws in the contest.

Arkansas visited sites in Rome, including the Coliseum, before visiting the Vatican City and continuing north to Florence as the trip continues.

The team began the trip by exploring the Amalfi Coast. The team and fans who made the trip loaded into two buses for a short drive from Naples.