Defense, Tolefree lead No. 21 Arkansas over Tulsa

Alexis Tolefree attempts a jumpshot in Arkansas' 91-41 win over Tulsa on Wednesday Dec. 11, 2019 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Tolefree is hoping to hear her name called Friday night during the WNBA draft.

FAYETTEVILLE — There are going to be games this season in which No. 21 Arkansas relies on its defense.

Wednesday night was one of those times, as it got a game-high 20 points from Alexis Tolefree and limited Tulsa to 28 percent shooting in a 91-41 victory at Bud Walton Arena.

“It felt like we still thought it was a 7 o’clock tipoff,” Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. “We got off to a slow start but we leaned on our defensive effort and we got refocused from there.”

Arkansas (9-1) led 14-2 after a quarter and was up by 25 at intermission as the Golden Hurricane didn’t surpass the 30-point mark until midway through the fourth quarter.

“I wanted to get a number of our bench players some minutes with our starters at the end,” Neighbors said. “They were excited to be out there.”

All eleven players who played scored for the Razorbacks. Erynn Barnum had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while A’Tyanna Gaulden had 14 points of her own.

Tulsa, led by former Arkansas coach Matilda Mossman, missed all 16 3-point attempts and was only 7 of 12 at the free throw line.

Normal Razorbacks starters Jailyn Mason and Kiara Williams were held out of the contest for precautionary reasons, while leading scorers Chelsea Dungee and Amber Ramirez combined for only 13 points on 10 of 24 shooting.

“They were spreading it around, even though they weren’t having great nights shooting,” Neighbors said. “The thing that impressed me the most was they were the most active kids on the bench cheering for our players at the end with Avery and Rokia hitting threes and Erynn getting that double-double.”

Arkansas won the rebounding battle 52-35 and forced 19 Golden Hurricane turnovers. The Razorbacks committed only eight of their own.

That comes in under its average of 10.7, which is second-best in the NCAA and leads all Power Five conference teams.

Tolefree’s 20 came up one shy of her career high, which she set against Kansas State on Saturday.

The Razorbacks will be back in action on Sunday, facing Northwestern State. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.