The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
1-0
Southern
0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern University | 24 | 29 | 53 |
| Ole Miss Lady Rebels | 29 | 37 | 66 |
Lady Rebels Open Season With A Win
11/25/2002 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2002
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Box Score
OXFORD, Miss. - Juniors Tenisha Gist and Tywanna Inmon scored 14 points each, and sophomore Elizabeth Cansdale added 10 points off the bench as Ole Miss defeated Southern 66-53, in the season opener for both teams Monday evening at the Tad Smith Coliseum.
Tied at 38, Gist's jumper with 11:54 to go put the Lady Rebels up for good at 40-38 and sparked a 14-5 spurt as Ole Miss built a 52-43 lead with 7:23 remaining. Southern would never get closer than seven the rest of the way and Ole Miss would lead by as much as 14.
"I thought this was good opening night win for us," said Lady Rebel head coach Ron Aldy. "Tywanna got us going in the first half and we were able to build off her inside game. I also thought we did a good on the boards, especially on the offensive end that gave us some second chance opportunities."
Ole Miss held a 46-29 advantage in rebounds, including grabbing 17 offensive boards for 21 second-chance points. Sophomore Amber Watts grabbed a career-high 13 boards, including six off the offensive glass.
After connecting on only 12-of-31 shots from the field in the first half, Ole Miss shot 48.3 percent in the second half, making 14-of-29 attempts, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.
The Lady Rebels held Southern to 34.5 percent from the field for the night, on 19-of-55 shooting.
Senior guard Tommie Walden led the Jaguars with 19 points, while playing 36-of-40 minutes. Junior forward Shere' Cunningham came off the bench to score 13 points.
Ole Miss took a 29-24 lead into halftime, holding Southern without a field goal over the final 6:08 of the half. The Lady Rebels opened the second half with a 7-1 spurt to go up 36-25 on junior Tia Watson's trey at the 18:14 mark.
Watson's three would be the last Lady Rebel field goal for the next five minutes as Southern went on a 10-0 run to pull within one.
Cunningham scored eight of the Jaguars' 10 points during that span. Her lay-up with 16:27 left, the Jaguars' first field goal in nearly 10 minutes, started the spurt, and she capped the run with back-to-back three-pointers to make it 36-35 with 13:38 to go.
Watts stopped the run with a lay-up to put the Lady Rebels back up by three at 38-35, but Walden would drain a three to tie it at 38 with 12:04 remaining.
Ole Miss will next travel to Chicago for the Illinois-Chicago Thanksgiving Tournament. The Lady Rebels open the event against Morgan State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
