Ole Miss finished its second quarter against Arkansas on a 23-4 run to open up a 25-point halftime lead, and the Rebels cruised to an 89-50 win Thursday night at Bud Walton Arena, the Rebels’ fifth straight win in the series.
The Rebels hit a season-high 10 3-pointers in the game and held the Razorbacks to 2 of 22 from deep. Four Ole Miss players finished in double-figure scoring, led by senior guard Tameiya Sadler’s 17 points off the bench. Senior guard/forward Madison Scott notched her seventh straight double-figure scoring game and finished with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. A total of 13 different players scored in the game.
“Road games are never easy, so we don’t ever take wins on the road lightly,” Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “ … Right now, we’re focused on trying to get where we’re trying to go and be better so that we can really make a push in March.”
Ole Miss (17-7, 8-4 SEC) held Arkansas star guard Izzy Higginbottom — the nation’s fourth-leading scorer and SEC leader at 24.3 points per game — to 18 points on 7 of 23 from the field.
“Throwing a bunch of different looks at her defensively,” Sadler said. “We had a lot of people guard her, so it was always fresh legs, and we knew we could wear her down throughout the course of the game. So, just taking it from there and making everything tough.”
Coming off a win over No. 8 Kentucky earlier in the week, Ole Miss kept its good vibes going, holding the Razorbacks (9-18, 2-10) to one of their first six from the field and to just 3 of 14 in the first quarter. The Rebels finished the first on a 6-0 run and held Arkansas without a field goal the final five minutes of the period, taking an 11-point lead into the second.
The Rebels went on a 13-0 run in the second quarter and extended their lead to 19 with just over three minutes left in the period. That lead only got steeper, as a 10-0 Ole Miss run followed after Arkansas broke up the initial Rebels’ streak. The Rebels shot 60% from the field in the first half and held the Razorbacks to just 9 of 35 from the field.
Ole Miss hit a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter and took a 38-point lead into the fourth. The Rebels led by 45 with 5:17 remaining in the fourth.
In her first start since Dec. 5, senior guard K.K. Deans scored 15 points, had five assists and did not turn the ball over in a team-high 23 minutes. Senior guard Kennedy Todd-Williams joined Sadler, Deans and Scott in double-figure scoring with 10 points.
“When K.K.’s playing at her best, she’s composed, she’s creating for others. She didn’t have any turnovers, I think that’s what I’m most excited about,” McPhee-McCuin said. “She’s not rushed, she’s not overthinking and she’s just taking what the defense gives her.”
Ole Miss plays at No. 15 Tennessee on Sunday at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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