The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Defeats Mississippi State in Women's Basketball
6/21/1999 | Women's Basketball
January 7, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - Tarsha Bethley scored 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds as Ole Miss downed Mississippi State 69-61 in Southeastern Conference action Thursday. Ole Miss improved to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the SEC, while Mississippi State fell to 9-4 on the year and 1-2 in the SEC.
For the Lady Rebels, Frankie Boyd recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Chandra Dorsey added 10 points for Ole Miss.
Jennifer Fambrough led Mississippi State with 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Nitra Perry added 15 points.
"It wasn't ugly, and it wasn't pretty, but we sure are proud to get the win," Ole Miss head coach Ron Aldy said. "This was a must-win for us, not only to get a win in the conference but to put a stop to our losing skid. Tarsha really stepped it up in the second half, and Frankie came through for us as well."
The scoring was slow to begin the game, as Mississippi State held a 3-0 advantage until Becky Myatt put the Lady Rebels on the board with a three-pointer at the 16:02 mark. State went up 16-9 on Meadow Overstreet's three, but Ole Miss scored eight unanswered points to take a 17- 16 lead on Bethley's three-pointer. Neither team led by more than four the rest of the half, and State took a 31-29 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the contest stayed tight as the game was tied seven times in the first 11:24. Neither team led by more than five until Bethley's layup and free throw put Ole Miss ahead 61-53 with 4:38 remaining in the game.
At the 3:06 mark, Ole Miss took its biggest lead of the game as Bethley's three-pointer put the Lady Rebels up 66-55. The Lady Bulldogs cut it to 66-61 on Perry's basket with 1:36 remaining, but Stephanie Murphy added a free throw to put Ole Miss up by six. Takela Corbitt and Stephanie Murphy added free throws for the final margin.
Ole Miss returns to action Sunday as the Lady Rebels host Kentucky in a 2 p.m. game televised by Fox SportSouth.
