The Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team defeated Texas A&M in dominating fashion in College Station, Texas, on Jan. 20. The Rebels earned a 80-63 win, improving their record to 4-1 in SEC play and 16-2 overall.
Lashonda Monk led the way in scoring for the Rebels in a game that they led by as many as 28 points. Monk finished with 16 points and went 7-12 from the field. Angel Baker scored 15 points off the bench while Shakira Austin continued her impressive season with an 11 point and eight rebound outing.
The Aggies kept it close with the Rebels early on, answering nearly every Rebel basket and forcing several contested shots from beyond the arch. With the score at the end of the first quarter tied at 19, the game looked as if the Rebels would be in for a close contest.
However, midway through the second quarter, a string of Aggie turnovers and hot shooting from the Rebels stretched the Ole Miss lead to 13 at halftime.
The Rebels took the momentum from the late second quarter surge and never looked back. They outscored the Aggies 19-6 in the third and found themselves with a comfortable lead of 28 late in the quarter.
A fourth quarter run by the Aggies cut the Rebels’ lead in half, but it was too little too late, and the Rebels picked up their second SEC road win of the season.
The win can be attributed to the lopsided assist to turnover ratio. The Rebels finished with 22 assists to just six turnovers, while the Aggies turned the ball over 17 times and only produced 12 assists.
The Aggies’ failure to protect the basketball is what turned out to be the difference in the game, as the two teams were nearly even in almost every other statistic.
The Rebels have won 16 of their last 17 games and are playing like a team who can make some noise in the NCAA tournament. They travel to Lexington on Saturday to face off against the 23rd ranked Kentucky Wildcats. With a win, they could likely find themselves ranked in the Top 25 on Monday.
