On senior day for the Rebels, Madison Scott, Kennedy Todd-Williams, Starr Jacobs, Tameiya Sadler and KK Deans were honored in front of the home crowd as Ole Miss secured a 68-66 victory.
Jacobs stood out for the Rebels with 22 points, four rebounds and two assists. As a whole, Ole Miss dominated the glass with 35 rebounds on the day. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the Rebels completed a tough comeback to secure the victory.
First half
Scott got the game’s first points on an easy shot within the paint. A weird foul for the Rebels stopped the game for a couple minutes, giving both Ole Miss and Missouri free throws. There was some back and forth between both teams, but it became clear that both defenses came to play. Missouri made a three and Scott got called for her second foul with another charge, forcing her to take a seat.
Ole Miss went on a nearly three-minute scoring drought that was broken by Christeen Iwuala. She got an and-one after missing her second free throw that allowed a four-point-play, switching the momentum back in the Rebels’ favor.
It was clear early in the game that Ole Miss was the more physical team, dominating in the paint. The first quarter ended with the game tied at 18, with Ole Miss’ 12 rebounds compared to Missouri’s five.
The Tigers started to heat up as they took a lead. The story of the second quarter was Ole Miss’ inability to make shots. Their defense did as much as they could, but Missouri was able to capitalize off of transition points. The Rebels were down 10 at the half.
Second half
Ole Miss started off hot, going on a run and brought the Missouri lead back down to three. The Rebel defense was menacing, forcing turnover after turnover. Even with players in foul trouble, Ole Miss was playing just as aggressive as always. Ole Miss started to take the lead and continued to play excellent on the defensive side of the ball. Both teams played well, but Ole Miss started to prove dominance on the court.
The third quarter was back-and-forth play, as Ole Miss held a lead for most of the quarter. The Rebels ended the third quarter with an eight-point lead, completing the comeback for the time being.
The game continued in Ole Miss’ favor as their lead grew to double-digits at one point. The Rebels outplayed Missouri for the entirety of the second half, as the Tigers stood no chance in the paint and on the offensive side.
The Rebels played team oriented basketball with their four seniors leading the way. Even with their struggles from the three-point line, shooting 1-11 from deep, their 31 rebounds helped offset their shooting difficulties.
The Tigers stormed back bringing the lead back down to one with less than 20 seconds to go. Missouri started to play the foul game, hoping to get the ball back with a chance to win the game. Todd-Williams missed both of her free throws, but Scott got the rebound and went to the line. She missed both, but once again Ole Miss got the rebound. This time Deans headed to the line. She made one and missed the other, meaning that the Tigers had a chance to win the game. They missed the layup to win the game, which secured the Rebels’ 68-66 victory over Missouri.
Who’s next
Ole Miss will host South Carolina on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m.
