The No. 15 Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team traveled to Cherokee, N.C., from Dec. 21-22 to compete in the Cherokee Invitational. The Lady Rebels beat Old Dominion in the first round, but lost to Michigan State in the championship round.
Old Dominion
The Lady Rebels cruised to an 86-57 victory over the Old Dominion Monarchs in the first round of the Cherokee Invitational Tournament.
The win was marked by a shift in strategy — namely the lack of three point attempts. The Lady Rebels made two of six attempted 3-pointers and ended the night with 58 points in the paint.
After a brief back-and-forth to start the game, the Lady Rebels found their stride and began to pull away with seven minutes left in the first quarter. Christeen Iwuala led the way for the Lady Rebels with six points in the first quarter, and finished the game with a double-double after a career high 23 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Both the Rebels and the Monarchs struggled in the second quarter, and together combined to shoot just 17% from the field.
Both teams picked up the pace after the half, but the Lady Rebel defense lagged and the Monarchs put up 28 points in the third quarter to cut the Ole Miss lead to just 10 points. This was the most points that the Rebels have allowed in a single quarter all season.
Latasha Lattimore said in her postgame press conference that after the rough third quarter, the team needed to regroup and communicate better.
“Sometimes we do have to come together (and) take a second, breathe, and let each other know that they’re catching up,” Lattimore said. “Once we take our foot off the gas, teams are going to try to go at us and score and shoot threes.”
The Lady Rebels were able to refocus, and they closed out the game with strong performances in the fourth quarter from Cotie McMahon and Lattimore who finished the game with 19 points and 15 points, respectively.
Ole Miss won the game 86-57 to advance to the championship game against Michigan State.
Michigan State
The Lady Rebels took on No. 24 Michigan State on Dec. 22 and lost 66-49.
At the start, it looked like it would be a tight contest. The offenses traded blows in the first quarter, but the Spartans opened a gap late in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 26-20 lead.
Defense quickly became the deciding factor. The Lady Rebels had trouble from beyond the arc due to the Spartan defense in the first half, and the second half was no different. The Rebels ended the game with a season low 3-point percentage of just 12%.
The three point struggles for the Rebels forced shots closer to the basket, but the Lady Rebels struggled to get open looks even on these attempts. McMahon concluded the game as the only Lady Rebel in double figures with 13 points.
The Spartans’ constant pressure often led to Rebel turnovers. Prior to the contest against Michigan State, the Lady Rebels averaged just 13 turnovers per game, but they committed 20 in this game alone.
Michigan State kept up the intensity to close out the game. Ole Miss lost, 66-49.
Alcorn State
The Lady Rebels beat the Lady Braves 64-44 on Dec. 28 in Oxford. Lattimore posted her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and McMahon led all scorers with 21.
The starting five looked different this matchup. The Lady Rebels started McMahon, Lattimore, Debreasha Powe, Sira Thienou and J’Adore Young. Iwuala did not play.
The Lady Rebels struggled to get going in the first half. Alcorn State held the Lady Rebels to just 28 points and forced 11 turnovers in the first half.
The Lady Braves guarded the perimeter tightly in the first half, only allowing the Lady Rebels to shoot five three-pointers, none of which connected. Ole Miss shot only 33% from the field in the first half, and the Lady Braves led 30-28 at the break.
After halftime, the Lady Rebels came out on fire. Ole Miss scored 20 points in the third quarter thanks to three players — McMahon had six, Thienou had five, Lattimore had four and Tianna Thompson had three. The Lady Rebels held the Lady Braves to five points, forcing five turnovers and tallying three blocks, and ended the quarter on an 18-0 run.
The Lady Rebels’ dominance continued in the fourth quarter. On defense, the Lady Rebels allowed only 9 points and produced nine turnovers. They continued to score and won the game by 20.
What’s next?
The Lady Rebels will kick off conference play at the Sandy and John Black Pavillion on New Year’s Day against the Georgia Bulldogs at 2 p.m. CT on SECN+. The game was moved up from its originally scheduled time to avoid conflict with the Allstate Sugar Bowl at 7 p.m. CT.
