FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas had no sign of any hangover Sunday afternoon after its loss to top-ranked South Carolina earlier in the week.
Instead, the No. 25 Razorbacks gave No. 15 Kentucky the headache with a hot-shooting second half to help them pull away for a 103-85 victory in front a vocal crowd of 5,638 in Walton Arena.
Arkansas struggled against a bigger South Carolina team in Thursday’s 86-65 loss, but it was dominant in almost every phase of the game against the Wildcats.
After leading 38-35 at halftime, Arkansas (19-5, 7-4 SEC) shot a blistering 71% (20-of-28) from the floor in the final two quarters and outrebounded Kentucky to pull away for its first regular-season victory over a top-15 opponent since 2016 when the Razorbacks knocked off then-No. 13 Tennessee 64-59.
The guard duo of Alexis Tolefree and Chelsea Dungee combined for 54 points and 9 of 14 from three-point range to lead the Razorbacks. Tolefree poured in a game-high 30 points — including 25 in the second half — as Arkansas expanded a three-point halftime lead to 17 heading into the fourth quarter.
The senior from Conway made 7 of 10 shots (4-of-6 from three-point range) and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line in the second half to help the Razorbacks to a whopping 65 points over the final two quarters.
Kentucky (18-5, 7-4) got as close as eight on Chasity Patterson’s bucket with 3:50 left. But Tolefree responded with a shot in the lane and a three-pointer from 28 feet to push the lead back to 92-79 with 2:37 left, and the Razorbacks hit foul shots late to pull away for the win.
Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said having the largest crowd since 2011 was the difference-maker for his team.
“Our crowd was tremendous,” Neighbors said. “From the tip to every time Kentucky would make a big run, the crowd had an answer for us. Our crowd was the difference today. It’s the way our kids responded when they saw the crowd and they did come.
“I guarantee you anybody that was in the gym today that saw that, I think they might come back and they might even bring somebody.”
It was the largest home crowd for an Arkansas women’s game since the Razorbacks lost to then-No. 5 Tennessee 72-53 on Jan. 30, 2011, when the game drew 6,149 people.
Dungee added 24 points to break a recent shooting slump, making 8 of 12 from the floor and 4-of-4 from 3-point range. The team’s leading scorer at 18 points per game, Dungee averaged a little over 10 per game in her last six games.
The 5-11 redshirt junior said making a few shots early helped build her confidence, but she’s also been working in the gym getting up lots of extra shots.
“Really, it’s just confidence,” Dungee said. “Getting in the gym and watching it go in over and over and over so that when you get out here you know you have confidence in your shot.”
Neighbors acknowledged getting Dungee going helped the team as a whole get going.
“It makes us a lot harder to guard,” Neighbors said. “I tell you what she did, too, earlier in the game she made three great passes in transition when she was trapped that got us going that led to some of that stuff.”
The 103 points were a season-high but the Razorbacks were strong in several categories.
Arkansas also was steady from long distance, finishing 14 of 21 from three-point range and 8 of 10 in the fourth quarter. It also was precise from the free-throw line, making 19 of 22 for the game and 17 of 19 in the final quarter.
Taylah Thomas joined Tolefree and Dungee in double figures in scoring with 13. Thomas and the 5-foot-8 Tolefree finished tied with a game-high seven rebounds to key Arkansas’ 37-23 advantage on the boards.
Kentucky was led by Patterson, who finished with a game-high 32 points and five three-pointers. The 5-5 junior guard scored 26 of those points in the second half. Sophomore Rhyne Howard returned after missing the last three games with a broken finger. She added 20, despite playing with a bandaged left hand.
Howard, one of the top scorers in the country coming in averaging 23.2 points per game, was obviously not at 100 percent, Kentucky Coach Matthew Mitchell said. But he also said Arkansas was the aggressor in a physical game.
“I thought she got frustrated early,” Mitchell said. “It was a very physical game and we spent more time trying to get baled out instead of getting in there and fighting. We had to play much harder than we did today.”