The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Basketball Downs Kentucky
6/21/1999 | Women's Basketball
January 10, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - Tarsha Bethley recorded her 14th career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead Ole Miss over Kentucky 60-57 in Southeastern Conference action Sunday. Ole Miss won its second straight SEC contest and improved to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the SEC, while Kentucky dropped to 11-4 on the year and 2-2 in the SEC.
Frankie Boyd and Becky Myatt added 11 points each for the Lady Rebels, and Myatt chipped in five assists.
Tiffany Wait led Kentucky with 19 points, followed by Shantia Owens with 12 points and seven rebounds.
"This is a good win to get us back into the SEC race," Ole Miss head coach Ron Aldy said. "We are much more confident this year as opposed to last year. We didn't get rattled after making some plays that could have cost us the game."
Ole Miss jumped out to a 5-0 start on a Bethley layup and a Takela Corbitt three-pointer. Owens put Kentucky on the board with a basket at the 18:33 mark, and Wait tied the game at 5-5 on a three-pointer. After Lesli Vollrath's bucket put the Lady Rebels ahead 13-9 and Kentucky's Jaye Barnes added a free throw, both teams hit a scoring drought and did not score for more than three minutes. The Wildcats' Tanesha Seaton ended the drought with a basket at the 10:44 mark.
Ole Miss maintained a lead until the 2:39 mark, when Erica Jackson's two free throws for Kentucky tied the contest 24-24. The Lady Rebels responded with two consecutive scores by Bethley and a jump shot by Sinissia Wysinger to take a 30-24 halftime lead.
The second half began with Ole Miss jumping out to a 35-24 lead on a three-pointer and two free throws by Myatt. With the Lady Rebels leading 40-38, both teams hit another slump and went over two minutes without a basket. Chandra Dorsey made two free throws for Ole Miss to stop the slump, and the Lady Rebels eventually went up 47-42 on Boyd's layup and free throw.
With a 49-44 lead, the Lady Rebels had several chances to extend their lead but missed several free throws. Kentucky pulled to within two points on Jackson's two free throws, but Bethley answered with a jump shot to keep Ole Miss in the lead 51-47.
The Lady Rebels led 51-49 at the 5:22 mark and scored five consecutive points on Myatt's free throw and two buckets by Bethley to go up 56-49. Kentucky trimmed the lead to 56-53 on scores by Jackson and Wait, but Bethley answered with a layup. A basket by Barnes got the Wildcats to within 59-56 with 10 seconds remaining, but Myatt added a free throw for Ole Miss to put the Lady Rebels up by four.
Kentucky's Jackson was fouled with .9 seconds left. Jackson made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, but Corbitt grabbed the rebound for the Lady Rebels as time ran out.
The game was played in front of a season-high crowd of 1,125, which included several former Lady Rebels who returned to Ole Miss for a special Alumni Weekend celebration.
Ole Miss returns to action Thursday when the Lady Rebels travel to Alabama for a 7 p.m. game.
