Down by 13, Razorbacks ride Tolefree
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Alexis Tolefree scored a career-high 35 points and Taylah Thomas made two free throws with 7.2 seconds left in overtime as No. 25 Arkansas rallied to beat Missouri 8581 on Sunday, erasing a 13-point deficit in the last five minutes of regulation.
Tolefree had 14 points and Amber Ramirez, who finished with 24, had seven in the fourth quarter when the Razorbacks outscored the Tigers 23-15.
After Missouri’s Aijha Blackwell opened the scoring in overtime, Chelsea Dungee and Ramirez hit jumpers and Tolefree had a pair of free throws for an 80-76 lead with 2:08 to play.
Blackwell cut it to one with 19.4 seconds to go but after A’tyanna Gaulden made 1 of two free throws at 17.4, the Tigers missed a contested inside shot, allowing Thomas to seal the game after grabbing her ninth rebound.
Arkansas (18-4, 6-3 SEC) beat the Tigers 90-73 on Jan. 12 when Dungee scored 38 points. In the five games since she has scored 46 points on 14-of-61 shooting, including the 2 for 18 and six points on Sunday.
Amber Smith scored 22 points and was one of three to grab nine rebounds for the Tigers (5-17, 2-7), who had a 12-0 run in the first quarter for a lead that stood up until a Ramirez layup with 1:59 left in the fourth quarter. Blackwell and Hayley Frank added 14 each. Missouri had a 35-22 rebounding advantage but had 20 turnovers.
In other games Sunday involving Top 25 women’s teams, Zia Cooke scored 20 points, and No. 1 South Carolina used its relentless defense to put away No. 22
Tennessee 69-48 for its 15th consecutive win. The Gamecocks (21-1, 9-0 SEC) won for the sixth time in seven games against ranked opponents this season. But South Carolina lost leading scorer and rebounder Aliyah Boston when she hobbled off the court in the third quarter. She came back to the bench with her right knee heavily wrapped. … Ashten Pretchel had 19 points and 14 rebounds and No. 6 Stanford cruised past Washington State. Kiana Williams scored 17 points and Lexie Hull had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal (20-2, 9-1 Pac-12), who have won five in a row since their lone conference loss to Oregon. … Elissa Cunane scored 22 of her 27 points in the second half, and No. 7 North Carolina State rallied for its seventh consecutive win with a 63-60 victory over Duke. Jakia Brown-Turner added 12 points for the Wolfpack (211, 10-1 ACC), who tied the second-best start to a season in program history. … Japreece Dean scored 18 points, leading No. 8 UCLA to a 70-61 victory over No. 19 Arizona State. Charisma Osborne added 15 points and Michaela Onyenwere had 14 to help Bruins (19-2, 8-2 Pac-12) bounce back from Friday’s blowout loss against No. 16 Arizona. … Kelly Campbell had 12 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, helping No. 11 DePaul to a 93-71 victory over Providence. Sonya Morris scored 21 points for the Blue Demons (20-3, 10-1 Big East), who were coming off a two-point loss to Creighton on Friday. … Freshman Lavender Briggs scored nine of her 18 points during Florida’s 25-5 run in the fourth quarter as the Gators snapped a five-game losing streak with a 70-62 victory over No. 13
Kentucky. … Khayla Pointer scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and Jailin Cherry hit two free throws with 4.3 seconds left to give LSU a 59-58 victory over No. 15 Texas A&M. Aifuwa scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to help the Tigers (16-5, 6-3) overcome the loss of Ayana Mitchell with a left knee injury late in the first half. … Aari McDonald scored 20 points and No. 16 Arizona pulled away for its fifth consecutive victory, a 73-57 win over visiting Southern California. Cate Reese had 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Wildcats (18-3, 17-4 Pac-12). … Naz Hillmon scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, powering
Michigan to a 78-63 victory over No. 18 Iowa. Hillmon shot 14 of 19 from the floor. … Ciara Duffy scored a career-high 31 points and No. 21 South
Dakota rolled past Denver 104-61 for the Coyotes’ 10th consecutive victory. … Lindsey Pulliam and Veronica Burton scored 19 points apiece, leading No. 23
Northwestern to an 82-59 road win at Penn State. … Alexa Willard scored 16 points and No. 24 Missouri State beat Illinois State, 87-74 Willard made 7 of 11 shots from the floor for the Bears (17-3, 7-1 Missouri Valley). Brice Calip totaled 15 points and eight assists.