The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Top MSU For Fourth Straight Win
1/22/2010 | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - A strong second-half surge lifted Ole Miss past Mississippi State 66-58 in a Southeastern Conference women's basketball game played Thursday night at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Ole Miss put its stamp on a fourth straight conference win at home by playing well in the game's final 20 minutes. The Rebels shot 57.7 percent from the floor in the second half. The victory marks the first four-game conference winning streak for Ole Miss since 2007.
The Rebels pulled even in the contest on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kayla Melson. The converted free throw tied the teams 38-38 with 13:57 left in regulation. From there, a 12-4 run by Ole Miss gave the Rebels the lead for good.
A layup by Melson capped the run and created a 47-42 UM lead with 9:51 left in regulation. A 3-point basket by Rack cut the deficit to 49-48 with 7:19 remaining. The Lady Bulldogs, however, would not regain the lead for the remainder of the contest.
The Rebels continued their blistering pace from the field, including 24 points in the paint in the final half. A 3-point basket by Shantell Black proved large as it pushed UM back out to a 57-50 advantage with 5:59 remaining in the game.
Diamber Johnson hit a three-pointer for the Lady Bulldogs with 4:27 left to play to cut the Ole Miss lead to four points at 57-53, but Black found a cutting Byrd for a layup to push the Rebel lead back to six points.
Elizabeth Robertson essentially put the game away for Ole Miss on the following possession with a three-pointer from the win to give the Rebels a 62-53 edge with just over two minutes to play.
Mississippi State managed to cut its deficit to four points with 1:22 on the clock on a three-pointer from Rack, but Black scored on the ensuing possession on an up-and-under layup as the shot clock expired to put Ole Miss back ahead by six points.
Melson hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to help push the Rebels into a tie for second place in the league standings.
MSU appeared to seize the momentum late in the first half. Neither team led by more than four points before the Lady Bulldogs pieced together a 12-1 run. Bethany Washington and Rack hit back-to-back 3-point baskets to highlight that run. A jumper by Rack gave the Lady Bulldogs their largest lead at 28-19 with 2:27 remaining before the half.
The Rebels crawled back into the contest with a half-ending 8-3 run. UM's Bianca Thomas drained a 3-point basket cutting the MSU lead to 31-27 at the intermission.
For the contest, the Lady Bulldogs hit 23 of 53 shots from the field (43.4 percent), 10 of 23 shots from 3-point range (43.5 percent) and 2 of 4 shots from the foul line (50.0 percent). The Rebels hit 25 of 52 shots from the field (48.1 percent), 5 of 16 shots from 3-point rang (31.3 percent) and 11 of 15 shots from the foul line (73.3 percent).
Ole Miss held a 35-25 rebounding advantage. The Lady Bulldogs had 14 assists and 18 turnovers, while the Rebels had 12 assists and 18 turnovers.
Rack paced the Lady Bulldogs with 19 points. Rack also had five assists but committed seven turnovers. Chanel Mokango added 10 points, a team-high five rebounds and three blocked shots.
For Ole Miss, Black and Thomas each shared team-high scoring honors with 15 points apiece. Nikki Byrd scored 12 points, while Melson and Robertson each added 11 points. Byrd had a team-high nine rebounds, while Melson dished out seven assists.
Ole Miss returns to action Sunday at noon when the Rebels travel to Athens, Ga., to take on eighth-ranked Georgia from Stegeman Coliseum.
