The Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team went into the semifinals of the SEC Tournament with the hopes of playing South Carolina on Sunday, March 10, but sadly came up short. The team fell 75-65 to a very good LSU team on Saturday, March 9. Rebel forward Madison Scott was the leading scorer with 22 points in the game.
First half:
LSU could not be stopped on the offensive side of the ball. Their post play was great, while the Rebels were struggling to fight back. The Rebels scored only one point in the final two minutes of the quarter.
The Rebels began the second quarter much better than the first. Both teams were going back and forth, with no team getting an advantage. Center Rita Igbwake and guard Marquesha Davis both seemed to roll their ankles, and so Davis rested and Igbokwe went to the trainers. Both would later return to the game and contribute.
Scott scored an impressive 13 points in the first half. If Ole Miss had any hope of turning the game around, it rested with her. The Rebels went into the half down by eight points with an overall score of 36-28.
Second half:
The Rebels started off hot, bringing the Tigers’ lead down to five points. LSU was clearly getting fatigued as the Rebels started upping the intensity. The Rebels were still down, but they were gaining steam and chipping away at LSU’s lead.
The Rebels went into the fourth quarter down two points and determined to fight until the final buzzer.
LSU began to pull away when Ole Miss had a streak of bad turnovers, and two shot clock violations by the Rebels further killed their momentum.
Forced to play the foul game, the timer hit zero before the Rebels could come back, and Ole Miss lost 75-65.
Weird stat of the game:
The Rebels shot 30% from the three, going 3-10 from beyond the arc. This game was one in which the Rebels would have to hit from three in order to win, and their poor percentage from deep was the main reason for their loss.
