The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
11-4, 1-2SEC
Georgia
11-4, 2-0SEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ole Miss Lady Rebels | 25 | 29 | 54 |
| Georgia Lady Bulldogs | 44 | 52 | 96 |
Georgia Outruns Lady Rebels 96-54
1/16/2003 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2003
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ATHENS, Ga. - Poor shooting and turnovers in the first half put Ole Miss (11-4, 1-2 SEC) in a hole that the Lady Rebels were never able to dig out of as Georgia (11-4 , 2-0 SEC) stormed past Ole Miss 96-54 on Thursday night.
The Lady Rebels committed 15 turnovers in the first half leading to 18 points for the Lady Bulldogs. The careless ball handling combined with a slow shooting start early, proved to be too much for Ole Miss to overcome despite a furious run late in the half to close the gap capped when Tia Watson hit a three right before the end of the half to put Ole Miss down 44-25 at half-time.
Georgia couldn't miss from the floor, firing 58 percent from the night, scoring most of their points in a transition offense that beat Ole Miss back down the floor. Ole Miss improved to 34 percent on the night after finding a lid on the basket for much of the first half.
"Early they put a lot of pressure on our guards and took us out of what we wanted to do," said head coach Ron Aldy. "Instead of responding in a positive way and attacking, we got back on our heels. We didn't respond to that challenge. They saw some fear in our face and really stepped it up and put their foot on us and never let us get off the mat."
Georgia jumped out to the early lead with a six point run to start the game. Ole Miss closed the gap to three at 10-7 early in the game, but the Lady Dogs used miscues by the Lady Rebels to build the half-time lead as two Lady Bulldogs scored in double digits.
Ole Miss scored first in the second half off a turnaround lay-up from Amber Watts to cut the lead to 17, but the turnover trouble began again as Georgia attacked the passing lanes and came up with steals and used transition offense to increase the lead.
Genice Terry led all scorers in the game and led the way for Ole Miss with 20 points on the night, but it wasn't enough as she was the only Lady Rebel to score in double digits. Georgia saw five players in double digits, led by the inside presence of Kara Braxton's 18 points. Mary Beth Lycett notched 17 points, Christi Thomas recorded 16 points to go along with 13 points from Alexis Kendrick and 12 points from Jessica Pierce.
Georgia won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding the Lady Rebels 39-28.
"We have to be much more physical and aggressive inside," Aldy said. "They weren't having to work for it very hard. They weren't contested at all. Either we were so badly out of position that they weren't having to shoot over us, or we weren't putting a body on them on the rebound. There's so much we have to work on with the balance inside outside it's hard to put a finger on one thing. It all starts with being physical and aggressive and having the mindset that someone's not going to out work you and that you aren't going to lose."
The loss on the scoreboard wasn't the only one Ole Miss suffered on the night, as junior Tywanna Inmon left the game early in the second half after colliding with the scoreboard diving for a loose ball. Inmon finished with no points and one rebound on the night.
Ole Miss has some areas of concern to work on before the next game according to Aldy.
"We need to get back to the basics that let us play decent ball early in the year," Aldy said. "We want to play hard-nosed and tough, and not let folks have their way. We're concerned because we didn't battle hard and let them make some easy plays. We didn't ever turn it up that notch and get that much more physical and determined with them."
The Lady Rebels have a quick turnaround to try to get things corrected as they will return home to face No. 15 Mississippi State on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Tad Smith Coliseum.
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