The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
2-1
McNeese State
0-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| McNeese State Cowgirls | 31 | 33 | 64 |
| Ole Miss Lady Rebels | 31 | 41 | 72 |
Watts Leads Lady Rebels Past McNeese State 72-64
11/26/2004 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2004
DALLAS, Texas -
Ole Miss senior center Amber Watts recorded her ninth-career double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead Ole Miss past McNeese State, 72-64, in the first round of play at the Hoops for the Cure Tournament in Dallas. With the win, Ole Miss improves to 2-1 on the season. They will take on the winner of the SMU-Mercer game in the finals.
"We were struggling to get anything going for most of the first half," said Ole Miss head coach Carol Ross. "Amber did her best to keep us in it. She really had a nice offensive game and was also strong on the boards."
The Lady Rebels trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half of play as McNeese State connected on 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. Trailing 29-16 with 5:34 remaining in the half, Ole Miss turned up the defensive pressure to close the gap, breaking even at the half, 31-31. Watts turned in 14-of-her-23 points at the half off of 6-of-8 shooting from the floor.
"I thought our players showed a little spunk towards the end of the first half," said Ross. "We switched our defensive to man and that allowed us to get some better pressure on the ball. We were able to get some transition baskets and make a little run."
In the second half of action Ole Miss continued with the defensive pressure, capping a run that began in the first period at 20-2 on an Armintie Price lay-up with 18:50 remaining in the game.
Ole Miss started to pull-away mid-way through the second frame, but McNeese State did not give up, making a game of it throughout the contest. The Cowgirls cut a 16-point Lady Rebel lead to six with just over a minute to play, but could not get any closer.
Watts was one of three Lady Rebels in double-figures as Price added 13 points along with sophomore guard Ashley Awkward, who also poured in a career-high 13 points. Junior forward Ellen Buchanan scored eight points for Ole Miss, while junior guard Ashley Johnson chipped in five points.
Price pulled down nine rebounds, freshman Jada Mincy grabbed seven boards and Buchanan collected six as the Lady Rebels won the rebounding battle, 48-34.
Awkward led Ole Miss in steals with a new career-high of six, while Price recorded five assists and five steals.
Courtney Colmer led McNeese State with 19 points, off of 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range. Shamika Stewart added nine points and eight rebounds for the Cowgirls, who fall to 0-3 on the season.
Ole Miss will return to action at Moody Coliseum on Saturday at 7 p.m. They will take on the winner of the SMU-Mercer contest.
