No. 17 Ole Miss lost to No. 7 LSU on Thursday, Feb. 19, 78-70 in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion. Despite holding a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter, the Lady Rebels were unable to prevent a late surge by the Tigers.
Forward Cotie McMahon led the Rebels with 25 points, and forwards Christeen Iwuala and Latasha Lattimore also finished in double figures.
The Tigers won the tip, but the Lady Rebels opened the game with a 3-pointer by McMahon. However, the Lady Rebels could not keep up with the Tigers’ fast-paced offense in the first quarter. LSU went on a run and made seven shots in a row before missing an attempted layup in heavy traffic.
At one point, LSU challenged an out-of-bounds ruling in an attempt to get the ball back, but referees confirmed that the possession belonged to Ole Miss. McMahon was able to capitalize on the opportunity with a 3-pointer and restore some momentum to the Lady Rebels.
At the conclusion of the first quarter, the Tigers held a 26-21 lead, thanks in part to their perfect free throw shooting. The Tigers entered the bonus early and went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Rebels dominated the second quarter. They moved the ball at a rapid pace and managed to find some open looks, putting together a 6-0 run.
Defensively, they clamped down on the Tigers. In a one-minute stretch, the Lady Rebels forced four turnovers. The Tigers went on a scoring drought that lasted nearly four minutes and went 0-of-5 from the paint.
Ole Miss ended the half on a 15-6 run and went into the locker room with a 43-37 lead.
The Lady Rebels maintained their lead out of the half. After a timeout, Ole Miss picked up the pace and went on an 11-0 run, but the Tigers answered right back with a 6-0 run of their own. The Lady Rebels held a 63-54 lead at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter was much more defensive for both teams. About halfway through the quarter, though, the Tigers made a push and began to put up points off both steals and Ole Miss turnovers.
“I felt it slipping and sometimes when you’re a coach, you don’t have 45 timeouts,” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said in a postgame press conference. “I kept calling stuff and we just couldn’t perform and I know it was due to the legs because if you look at every other quarter we were able to perform.”
The Lady Rebels looked tired. They missed critical free throws; even worse, they only scored seven points in the quarter. LSU ended the game on a 19-1 run and won 78-70.
“I’m not taking anything away from LSU, but we ran out of gas,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Seven points in the fourth, and it wasn’t because we didn’t take shots. We missed 17 shots around the basket … that hurt us.”
McMahon emphasized that this game was good preparation for the postseason.
“Fighting for 40 minutes, no matter how tired we are, this was a little pre-run of what the tournament is going to be like,” McMahon said in a postgame interview. “Now we know what it feels like, and now we know what we need to give when this time does come again.”
For most of the game, Ole Miss looked like a top team. The Lady Rebels adapted to the Tiger’s style of play, but errors, poor rebounding and scoring droughts plagued them. Up by double digits in the fourth quarter in front of a rowdy Ole Miss crowd, this was a missed opportunity for the Lady Rebels.
What’s next?
No. 17 Ole Miss (21-7, 8-5 SEC) will travel to Columbia, S.C. to take on No. 3 South Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 22. SEC Network will broadcast the game.
