Arkansas women win at the buzzer
ARLINGTON, Texas — Arkansas’ women’s basketball team picked up a 66-65 road win Wednesday as Alexis Tolefree hit a game-winning floater at the buzzer against UT-Arlington.
The Razorbacks (2-0) trailed, 54-53, but opened the final frame with a 9-0 run. Senior Malica Monk picked up her fourth foul and returned to the bench with 5:13 to go.
The Lady Mavericks (11) rallied for a 6-0 run. Monk returned to the game, but the scoring drought continued as Arlington closed the gap and took the lead.
Arlington missed two free throws with a 65-64 lead. Arkansas grabbed the rebound and called a timeout to advance the ball.
The Razorbacks got the ball at half court with 3.2 seconds on the clock. Tolefree received the inbound pass, dribbled down the center of the lane and hit the game-winning shot.
Tolefree and Monk each fin-
ished with 18 points. Sophomore Chelsea Dungee added 16 points.
Arkansas will return home to Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville on Sunday at 7 p.m. against No. 22 Arizona State (1-1). The men’s team will face Indiana at 2:30 p.m.
Nighthawks down Rhodes College
MEMPHIS — National Park’s men’s basketball team picked up its second win of the season, rolling to a 103-80 win over the Rhodes College junior varsity team on the road.
Freshman Patrick Green, of Little Rock Mills, helped the Nighthawks grab a 49-42 halftime lead with 18 points, including 11 at the free throw line. The Lynx (0-3) used clutch free throws and shooting from distance to keep the game close.
Sophomore Seth Duke, of Gravette, took control for the Nighthawks with 14 second-half points. NPC also dominated at the line, putting up 11 to Rhodes’ one.
Greene finished with a game-leading 23 points, Duke added 18 and freshmen David Jagers, of Mayflower, and Harris Martin, of Pine Bluff, added 13 and 10, respectively.
The Nighthawks will compete in the Pioneer Classic this weekend, hosted by North Arkansas College in Harrison.
OBU women earn home win
ARKADELPHIA — Following a pair of losses in the Southwest Baptist Classic in Bolivar, Mo., over the weekend, the Ouachita Baptist Tigers picked up their first win of the season Tuesday over Central Baptist, 81-64.
The win also gave head coach Gary Crowder his 750th career victory, who is in his 24th season at the helm of the Tigers (1-2). Crowder has 361 wins for OBU, holding the program’s record for most wins, and his teams have been ranked in the Division II Top 25 or received points in the poll 11 times.
The Tigers shot 42.4 percent from the floor while grabbing 41 rebounds and scored 28 in the paint while Central Baptist was held to 34.7 percent with 38 boards and 22 points in the paint.
Sophomore forward Eden Crow, of Texarkana, led the Tigers with 23 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal. Senior guard Alivia Huell, of Malvern, added 17 points with seven boards, and sophomore guard Maija Gerstone, of Liepaja, Latvia, had 14 points with three rebounds and three assists.
Over the weekend, the Tigers fell to Sioux Falls (S.D.), 91-44, on Friday before falling to Southwest Baptist 89-75.
The Tigers are set to face Blue Mountain College (Miss.) at 1 p.m. today at Bill Vining Arena.
OBU has 3 named to region soccer teams
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Ouachita Baptist sophomore midfielder Ashlyn Heckman, senior midfielder Blain Hickman and junior defender Jakob Cuellar were among the athletes named to the 2018 All-Central Region’s soccer teams.
Heckman, the Great American Conference Newcomer of the Year, led the Tigers in total points (17) and shots (60). The Frisco, Texas, native also scored two game-winning goals, earning her an All-GAC honorable mention.
Hickman, who was a unanimous First Team All-GAC midfielder, started every game for the Tigers, leading the team in goals scored (5), assists (4), points (14) and was third in shots (28). The Royse City, Texas, native was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team earlier this month, and he looks to become the Tigers’ second-ever soccer player to earn All-American honors.
Cuellar started 17 games on the Tigers defense, logging over 1,500 minutes while recording three assists and picking up five points. The Frisco, Texas, native earned GAC Defensive Player of the Week honors this season and was named to the All-GAC Second Team earlier this month.
HSU golf adds five to rosters
ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State recently announced the signing of four women and one man to the golf program’s 2019 class.
Allie Bianchi, Hannah Choi, Karen Lee and Daphney Tilton all signed to play for the women’s team while Josh McNulty, of White Hall, signed for the men’s team.
Bianchi, of Allen, Texas, is a two-time district champion, holds the school record for lowest round (69) and was the first in school history to qualify for the state tournament. She also won three events, the All-American Tour Winter Showcase, the FMHS Tour 18 Classic and the AAT Pure Swing Golf Summer Showdown while taking second at the North Texas PGA Nike Jr. Golf Spring Showcase.
Choi, an Austin, Texas, native, tied for 11th at the Class 5A state tournament last year, playing in 30 tournaments with 29 finishes in the top 29 and three outright victories. She won the Prestige Tour Spring Break Classic with a 146 and competed in six Prestige Tour events this season with top six finishes in each.
Lee, a Southlake, Texas, product, was a participant in the Class 6A State Championships all four years of her high school career, placing in the top three of all five Dallas Metro tournaments she competed in as a freshman. She shot a two-day score of 153 to take third in the AAT Granbury Classic and tied for fourth in the AAT NMSU PGM Match Play Championship with a 149.
Tilton, of Iowa, La., is the No. 2 ranked golfer in Louisiana for the class of 2019, and she was a member of the Louisiana team that defeated Mississippi for the Junior River Cup twice in
2017 and 2018. She won two LHSSA state titles in her high school career, was a three-time team MPB and qualified for the Optimist Jr. World Championships twice.
McNulty won the Amateur Division of the
2018 Arkansas Open with a two-round card of
136, just two strokes behind the overall winner. He also won the 2018 U.S. Arkansas Junior Qualifying event and qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur open, hosted in Springfield, N.J. He has finished in the top 10 of all 10 ASGA events he competed in and had five top-five finishes among them.
LH junior high teams post wins to start season
PEARCY — Lake Hamilton’s junior boys recorded three wins to start off the season, and the junior girls took a win over Bryant earlier this week.
The junior Wolves rolled to a 39-38 win over Hot Springs in their season opener on Nov. 8 at Hot Springs. Ethan Watson sank a free throw with 4 seconds remaining to give Lake Hamilton the win. Chase Jessup led the team with 15 points, Watson added 10, Cade Robinson had seven, Zac Pennington five and Gavin Robbins two.
Lake Hamilton used a late run in the third frame to pull ahead of the junior Hornets, holding on for the 45-43 win Monday at Wolf Arena. Jessup led the team with 16 points, Robbins added 10, Robinson and Pennington put up seven each and Watson had four.
On Wednesday, the junior Wolves defeated De Queen, 50-19, to advance to the finals of the Nashville Tournament. Robbins led the team with 13 points, Robinson and Josh Parish added nine each and Pennington had seven. Jessup and Matthew Carmack each shot four, and Watson and Riley Speer finished with two apiece.
The junior Lady Wolves took a 37-30 win over Bryant Monday after a 23-23 draw at halftime. Hayleigh Wyrick led all scorers with 23 points, five steals and four rebounds. Ginny Higginbotham added six points with four assists and four boards, and Annabelle Coppedge finished with six points and a team-leading seven rebounds.