University of Arkansas women find time for freshmen

FAYETTEVILLE — Chelsea Dungee has picked up where she left off last season, propelling the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team on both ends of the court.

The junior guard had 22 points in No. 23 Arkansas’ season-opening victory over New Orleans on Friday, and followed up with a team-high 19 in the Razorbacks’ 101-58 trouncing of McNeese State on Monday night in Walton Arena.

“She could have probably scored every time she touched it if that’s what we needed to have happen,” said Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors, who rested his star player for most of the second half. “We were able to play through her early. I thought she made some really good decisions tonight.”

Dungee, who has now scored in double figures in 19 consecutive games dating back to last season, added 6 rebounds, 5 on the defensive end, to go along with 2 steals.

“We have really been working on our pace of play, and continue to improve that as we play against better competition,” Dungee said. “It really helps that everyone shot well, we shared the ball well, and that led to more shots.”

The large margin of victory allowed Neighbors to give some of the younger players playing time. The youngsters took advantage of the opportunity, as the five freshmen who played combined for 38 points.

“We got a lot of usable film for a lot of kids, and then we get to rest some of these kids that we usually have to play 30 to 35 minutes,” Neighbors said. “I was proud of how all of our freshmen played tonight.”

The Razorbacks jumped out to a 27-15 first-quarter lead, as Dungee converted a pair of three-point plays in the first six minutes, as well as a three-pointer. Senior Alexis Tolefree scored all nine of her points in the first period.

Freshman Makayla Daniels hit a pair of jumpers early in the second quarter, her second giving Arkansas a 35-19 lead with 5:41 left in the half.

The Razorbacks’ defense held the Cowgirls to 10-of-42 shooting in the first half. Sophomore Callie Maddox led McNeese with eight of her team-high 15 points before the break.

“We watched a lot of film after our last game and found some things we needed to work on defensively, and we really concentrated on improving those things tonight,” Tolefree said. “I thought we executed pretty good tonight, but there are still a lot of things we need to continue to improve on.”

Junior Taylah Thomas powered in three layups early in the third as Arkansas bumped its lead to 28 points midway through the quarter. Thomas finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Former Springdale standout Marquesha Davis converted a layup and free throw, followed by a layup from fellow freshman, and Little Rock Central grad, Erynn Barnum to give the Razorbacks an

80-46 lead after three quarters.

Barnum and Daniels each chipped in 11 for the Razorbacks. All

12 Razorbacks who played scored at least one point.

“We always want to play fast and move the ball. That’s our plan every game,” Neighbors said. “We put up 100 shots and had 14 turnovers tonight, so that’s where we want to be.”