The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Rebel Basketball Team Wins Eighth Straight
6/21/1999 | Women's Basketball
December 16, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss senior forward Tarsha Bethley scored 23 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Lady Rebels defeated the UAB, 62-56, at the Tad Smith Coliseum Wednesday night.
"Defensively, we tried to change it up a bit the second half," said Ole Miss head coach Ron Aldy. "We wanted them to beat us from the perimeter and not on the offensive boards. It obviously worked because they shot just 13.3 percent from behind the three-point line. Our effort was much better in the second half."
With the score tied at 38-38 with 7:45 remaining in the game, Ole Miss (8-1) used a 10-2 run over the next two minutes and 55 seconds to build a 48-40 lead. Junior Frankie Boyd scored six of her 11 points during the spurt and forward Heather Bantz (five points) capped off the run, sinking a three-point shot.
Deanna Jackson led UAB (3-5) with 24 points on eight-for-16 shooting from the floor, and added 14 rebounds. Felicia Jackson (13 points) and Sally Jeter (10 points) combined with Jackson to score 47 of the team's 56 points. Ole Miss sealed the win sinking 16-of-20 free throws (80 percent) in the second half. Ten of the last 12 Lady Rebel points came from the charity stripe.
"We have been working on our free throws during practice," said Aldy. "That aspect of the game has been a thorn in our side recently. Fortunately, our players came through when we needed the points."
Ole Miss will return to action Saturday Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the Navy Classic against UMKC.
