WNIT UA guard has ‘game of her life’

TULSA — Arkansas Coach Tom Collen has said all freshman guard Chrisstasia Walter needed was a breakout game.

Collen can check that one off the list after Walter scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Razorbacks to a 78-59 victory against Oral Roberts in the third round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday at the Mabee Center.

Arkansas (22-11) advances to play the winner of tonight’s game between Illinois State and Duquesne.

Collen expected the Texarkana product to be a productive scorer, but points and playing time were hard to come by for Walter. Walter, whose previous best was 10 points, was moved into the starting lineup after Lyndsay Harris sustained a season ending knee injury in the SEC Tournament.

Walter made 9 of 18 fieldgoal attempts, including 5 of 13 three-pointers, in 36 minutes Wednesday and had 5 steals. She scored 21 of her points in the first half as Arkansas never trailed in the game and led by as many as 21 points in the second half.

“There’s no doubt she had the game of her life,” Collen said.

The rest of the Razorbacks weren’t far behind.

Arkansas had defeated Oral Roberts 80-63 earlier this season, but Collen expected the WNIT game to be much more difficult since the Golden Eagles (23-11) were such prolific scorers, led by guard Kevi Luper’s 24-point average. Oral Roberts liked to shoot often from the outside to set up drives to the basket, and the Golden Eagles attack the offensive glass.

Arkansas held Oral Roberts to six offensive rebounds the entire game and outrebounded the Golden Eagles 36-22. Luper had a game to forget, scoring just 4 points on 1-of-9 shooting with 7 turnovers.

Collen said Oral Roberts had a tough task after beating Rice in the second round Monday.

“I think they were a little worn down,” Collen said. “I just think they didn’t have enough juice.”

Arkansas never trailed after a quick start led by Walter. Walter had two steals that she converted into layups and a three-pointer in the first 3 minutes of the game as the Razorbacks jumped to a 9-3 lead with 17:31 left in the first half.

The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 9-7, but Arkansas went on a 12-2 run to take a 21-9 lead. Walter hit another three-pointer to give Arkansas a 26-11 lead, and Quistelle Williams made a layup to give the Razorbacks their largest first-half lead at 28-11 with 8:27 left.

Walter hit two consecutive three-pointers later in the half to push Arkansas’ lead to 36-19, but Georgia Jones hit consecutive three-pointers to spark a mini-rally by the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts cut the deficit to 42-30 by halftime.

WNIT glance THIRD ROUND TUESDAY’S GAME Toledo 74, Alabama 59 WEDNESDAY’S GAMES Arkansas 78, Oral Roberts 59 Southern Cal 62, BYU 50 TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Boston College at Virginia, 6 p.m.

Eastern Michigan at Syracuse, 6 p.m.

Florida at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Duquesne at Illinois State, 7:05 p.m.

Colorado at Wyoming, 8 p.m.