The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Houston Jags (Ex.)
Women's Basketball Drops Houston Jags, 99-94
11/7/1999 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 7, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team opened the program's 25th season Sunday, with a 99-94 exhibition win over the Houston Jags at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Senior Frankie Boyd led the Lady Rebels with 24 points, while Junior Becky Myatt and sophomore newcomer Von-Gretchen Kirk had 16 apiece. Boyd had a double-double with 11 rebounds. Sinissia Wysinger pulled down 10 rebounds to go with eight points. Myatt went 4- of-8 from behind the arc, while Kirk finished 4-of-7 from the three-point line.
"Our defense was not as good as we thought it would be," head coach Ron Aldy said. "We had some spurts where we played good, but we didn't have a consistent effort. Our inconsistencies fueled their rallies."
The Houston Jags are comprised of former college basketball players. Sheila Ethridge, a former player at Louisiana Tech, made 11-of-12 free throws and went 10-of-20 from the field, to score 35 points.
Ole Miss went on an 8-1 run to open the game, but the Jags pulled to within 8-6 on a jumper by Ethridge at the 16:02 mark. The Lady Rebels would build to a 45-32 lead with 4:40 to go in the first half, before seeing the Jags take the lead (48-47) with a minute to go, on a three- pointer by Ethridge. Myatt answered with a three of her own to tie the game at halftime.
The Lady Rebels led by 11 with 10:56 to go in the second half, but the Jags would cut it to one (86-85) at the 6:34 minute mark and then Ethridge's layup with 5:33 gave Houston a one- point lead (87-86). Myatt sank a three-pointer with a little over three minutes left, to put Ole Miss up by eight, but the Jags scored the next seven points to pull within one with 2:19 to go in the game. Boyd stepped up in the final minute to make four free throws to give the Lady Rebels the win.
"There were some bright spots that I was pleased with, especially Becky and Von hitting the perimeter shots like they did. They were unselfish in their play because they both could have hit twice as many shots than they did."
The Lady Rebels return to the court in their final exhibition game Saturday, Nov. 13 at 5:00 p.m., against Australia, before opening the regular season Friday, Nov. 19, by hosting Memphis.
