OXFORD — No. 17 Ole Miss led by nine heading into the fourth quarter of its highly-anticipated matchup against No. 7 LSU Thursday night but was held without a field goal the entire final period, and the Tigers roared past the Rebels 78-70 at SJB Pavilion.
Ole Miss (21-7, 8-5) was outscored 24-7 in the fourth quarter, with all seven points coming via free throw. LSU’s (23-4, 9-4) MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 10 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. Ole Miss senior forward Cotie McMahon finished with 25 points, her 17th game of 20 or more points this season. Senior forwards Christeen Iwuala and Latasha Lattimore finished with 13 points and 12 points, respectively.
It was the Rebels’ third of four games in a seven-day span, with No. 3 South Carolina looming Sunday. While the end result wasn’t what she wanted, the lead into the game was one Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin will remember for the foreseeable future — ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith made good on his promise to come to Oxford following his controversial comments about Mississippi a few months ago, and the Ole Miss football team was part of the 7,424 bright-eyed fans in attendance. She will also remember Thursday for the fight her team showed despite the circumstances.
“This has been a challenging time for us. And anybody that watched the game — and I’m not taking anything away from LSU — but we ran out of gas. … We missed 17 shots around the basket,” McPhee-McCuin said. “ … I’m just really proud. I’m really proud of our team, I’m proud of everybody that came out. … I know that if the crowd didn’t come out, maybe we’d have gotten blown out, because we needed them from an energy perspective.”
The Tigers entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 95.7 points per game and got off to a hot start, hitting 10 of 13 shots in the first quarter en route to a 26-21 lead heading into the second. Tigers star guard Flau’jae Johnson scored 9 points in the period but left the game late in the quarter. She returned with just under seven minutes left in the second and finished with 18 points.
The Rebels clamped down defensively and put their foot on the gas offensively in the second quarter, outscoring LSU 20-9. McMahon tied the game at 26 with a 3-pointer early in the quarter, and a 3 from sophomore guard Tianna Thompson with 3:45 left put the Rebels in front for the first time since the game’s opening minute. Ole Miss finished the half on a 7-2 run and led 43-37. LSU shot just 33% from the field in the second.
Ole Miss opened up a 13-point lead midway through the third, as the Rebels hit five of their first seven from the field. They took a nine-point lead into the fourth and led by as many as 11 in the quarter but missed all 17 of their shots in the period, and a 13-0 LSU run put the Tigers in front 72-69 with 2:24 to play. LSU finished the game on a 19-1 run.
“Honestly, the fourth quarter was completely on us. We had a lot of shots around the rim that we usually don’t miss, and we just … couldn’t finish them,” McMahon said. “ … Definitely could have been better, but yeah, I just feel like we just were a little tired.”
While the loss was disappointing, McPhee-McCuin isn’t dwelling on the “what ifs” and “could haves.” She is instead focusing on what can be.
“I am confident that this week is going to prepare us for something even greater in March. And I’m not talking about SEC tournament,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I’m talking about March Madness, when we go.”
Ole Miss plays at No. 3 South Carolina Sunday at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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