Sophomore a force Cougars can’t stop

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas guard Chelsea Dungee has made big shot after big shot all season, and that didn’t change Thursday night in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

The 5-11 sophomore poured in a game-high 37 points to help the Razorbacks shake off a determined Houston team and secure an 88-80 victory in Walton Arena in front of a vocal announced crowd of 3,021.

Razorbacks Coach Mike Neighbors said having Dungee makes a coach’s job easier as her three-point play helped give Arkansas (21-14) some separation in overtime and finish off the Cougars.

“She’s just a killer,” Neighbors said. “That killer gene, there’s a lot of big-time scorers that don’t have the killer gene. She’s got that ‘get-methe-ball’ that [Hoosiers] Jimmy Chitwood gene or whoever we want to reference.

“That makes you sleep good at night when you don’t have to be some guru, genius,” Neighbors said. “Let’s move some people around and match up.”

Dungee’s three-point basket put Arkansas up 78-73 with 3:44 left in overtime, and Houston never got closer than three the remainder of the way.

Dungee made 10 of 19 field goals, including two three-pointers. She also was able to take advantage at the free-throw line, where she made 15 of 17 attempts.

“I think getting to the freethrow line so many times per game draws attention itself because that’s something each team wants to eliminate,” Dungee said. “I really think you just have to guard us fairly.”

Dungee made both free throws to tie the game at 73-73 with 19.2 seconds remaining in regulation to help

force overtime after a Houston miss.

Houston Coach Ronald Hughey compared Dungee to Kobe Bryant.

“We called her a three-level scorer with four-point range,” Hughey said with a laugh. “It’s extremely difficult because she can create space for her shot. She can get into you and be able to get a step back and she’s long enough … to shoot over the top of the defense. So I saw why the SEC, watching all those games, had trouble with her.”

Dungee broke Arkansas’ single-season scoring record, which was held by Shelly Wallace. She came into the game five points away from Wallace’s total of 692 and surpassed it with a three-pointer with 58 seconds left in the first quarter. Wallace set the mark during the 1988-89 season.

Dungee said she was only concentrating on winning and advancing.

“I knew about it before the game,” Dungee said. “I wasn’t too concerned about it. I just wanted to play for my team. I wanted to get this win and make it as far as we can in this tournament.”