The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Basketball Wins Dead River Company Classic
6/21/1999 | Women's Basketball
November 28, 1998
ORONO, Maine - Senior forward Tarsha Bethley scored 22 of her 25 points in the final four minutes of the second half and in the overtime as the Ole Miss women's basketball team rallied from 12 points down (55-43) with five minutes remaining to defeat the University of Maine 77-72 in overtime to capture the Dead River Company Classic title in front of 3,266. Bethley was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Ole Miss improves to 4-1 on the year with the win and captures its 33rd regular season tournament title. Maine drops to 2-1 on the season.
"This is a big win for our program," head coach Ron Aldy said. "To come in here and beat a good team on their home floor with a huge crowd is monumental for this team. Tarsha's performance at the end is typical of how she steps up and gets the job done when it counts the most."
"I have to give credit to Maine," Bethley said. "They have a fine basketball team. We just got together near the end and made up our minds that we could do it. Once we tied the game, we knew that since we had come this far that we could win it. I am proud of my teammates. They stepped it up at the end and never gave up."
Frankie Boyd, who was also named to the All-Tournament team, finished with 10 points, while freshman Takela Corbitt added nine. Bethley nearly had her second straight double-double with nine rebounds. She also dished out five assists.
For Maine, Preseason All-America candidate Jamie Cassidy led all scorers on the night with 38 points including 14-of-22 from the floor and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. She had a double-double with 10 rebounds to lead the Black Bears. Martina Tinklova chipped in 11 points.
Ole Miss jumped out to a 21-8 lead with 8:24 in the first half on a Heather Bantz three-pointer. Maine would come back as Kizzy Lopez nailed a three-pointer and a jumper and then a layup by All-America candidate Jamie Cassidy put Maine within four with 4:35 to go in the first half. Cassidy made another layup with :28 seconds left in the half to give Maine its first lead (22-21), which they would take into halftime.
In the second half, the game stayed close until the Black Bears Lopez hit a three-pointer and two consecutive layups by Tinklova and Cassidy gave Maine a nine point lead with 8:05 left in the game. Kristen McCormick gave Maine its largest lead of the night (12) with 5:17 remaining as she nailed what looked to be a huge three-pointer .
The Lady Rebels, on two jumpers by Bethley and a three-pointer by Heather Bantz, cut the lead to seven with 3:04 to go. Bethley sank a three-pointer, a jumper, two free throws and then stole the ball and made a layup with 37 seconds remaining to tie the game. Tinklova made a layup to put Maine up by two with 27 seconds left, and then Bethley sent the game into overtime, hitting a jumper with four seconds left.
In the overtime, the Lady Rebels took control even holding an eight point lead with 16 seconds left on their way to the title.
Ole Miss returns to Tad Smith Coliseum Wednesday Dec. 2, when they will host the University of Oklahoma. The game time is 4:45 p.m., which has been moved up 15 minutes from the original time of 5:00 p.m. due to a doubleheader with the men's team.
