The Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team had a tough match against the No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners on Feb. 6 in Oxford, losing 66-56.
Forward Starr Jacobs led the team with 15 points, six rebounds and five steals. The biggest issue for Ole Miss was shooting 0-12 from the three-point line. The positive: The Rebels went 15-21 from the charity stripe.
First half
Ole Miss got the first point with a free throw from Jacobs. However, the Rebels went on a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought, allowing Oklahoma to take a quick six-point lead. Ole Miss continued to struggle, shooting 21% from the field to end the first quarter. The Rebels were down 15 points big after one quarter.
Ole Miss brought the lead down to eight, with guard Sira Thienou scoring six points in the second quarter. Jacobs had five steals, including one that resulted in a last-second layup from forward Madison Scott. The Rebels went into the half down two points.
The Rebels turned the ball over 13 times in the first half.
Second half
Thienou got the Rebels going to start the second half, scoring four points and tying the game up at 33 minutes in. Ole Miss and the Sooners would continue to go back and forth with the Rebels holding a one-point lead.
The third quarter ended with Ole Miss being up by two on the 15th-ranked team in the country. Thienou, Jacobs and Scott took over, with all three being in double digits heading into the fourth quarter. The Rebels’ lead was due in large part to their free-throw shooting.
Ole Miss extended the lead to five to begin the final quarter, with Jacobs leading the charge. The Sooners fought back, taking a three-point lead with four minutes left to go in the game.
The Rebels needed to make a last ditch effort to pull off the win. The Sooners hit a big three to push the lead to four with a minute-and-a-half left, putting Ole Miss in panic mode. Ultimately, the Rebels never mounted a comeback effort and went down by 10 points.
The killer ended up being fouls; the Rebels committed 10 compared to the Sooners’ four.
Who’s next
Ole Miss will play Kentucky at home on Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN2.
