OXFORD – Ole Miss overcame a 10-point halftime deficit against Missouri on senior day on Sunday and withstood the Tigers’ late rally in a 68-66 win at SJB Pavilion.
Ole Miss (18-8, 9-5 SEC) hit 13 of 19 shots in a pivotal third quarter, where the Rebels outscored the Tigers 29-11. Missouri (13-16, 2-12) finished the game on a 7-1 run – and the Rebels missed five late free throws – but a game-tying layup attempt by Laniah Randle was no good as time expired.
Senior forward Starr Jacobs led Ole Miss with 22 points. Senior guard Kennedy Todd-Williams finished with 12 points, and junior forward Christeen Iwuala scored 10 points and led the Rebels with seven rebounds.
“I’m grateful for the win, I’ll tell you that,” Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “Senior day for me is always like a gift and a curse, because there’s so many emotions that go with it, and you try to control your players’ energy, but there’s nothing you can do. They have to play the game, and I was really proud of the way that we finished.”
The Tigers shot nearly 64% from the field in the first half and took a 10-point lead into halftime. Grace Slaughter scored 12 points over the first two quarters for the Tigers, who held Ole Miss to 11 of 32 from the field and 0 for 7 from deep in the half.
Ole Miss cut the Missouri lead down to one less than three-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, starting the period on a 12-3 run. Jacobs scored 11 points in the third quarter on 5 for 5 from the field, and the Rebels turned their double-digit halftime deficit into a 59-51 lead heading into the fourth. Missouri was just 4 of 11 from the field in the third.
“At halftime, I just talked to them about, we have to guard, man. And we have to sit down, and we have to defend. We didn’t defend worth anything the first two quarters,” McPhee-McCuin said. “ … In the third quarter, we just went back to, ‘OK, you know what? At the end of the day, we have to guard.’ And because we started to defend, we ended up scoring 29 points to their 11. And that was the difference in the game.”
Missouri used a 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter to cut what had been a 10-point Rebels lead down to a point. With the chance to take the lead with less than 20 seconds to play, the Tigers missed a pair of layups and, trailing by two, Missouri missed a game-tying layup attempt as time expired.
“I think, because we’ve been in the position before, we knew that it was going to come down to that possession,” Todd-Williams said. “So, being locked in, knowing the game plan in that last timeout, and we executed really well on the defensive end.”
Ole Miss hosts No. 6 South Carolina Thursday at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on either ESPN or SEC Network.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
