Tolefree, Ramirez rally No. 25 Arkansas women to OT win

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Amber 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 85-81 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 Southeastern Conference) 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 apiece. Missouri had a 35-22 rebounding advantage but had 20 turnovers.

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