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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, November 29
Oxford, Miss.
8 PM
Ole Miss
3-5
50
vs
55
TCU
5-1
1
2
3
4
F
TCU
14
15
10
16
55
Ole Miss
7
10
23
10
50
Rebels Come Up Short in Heartbreaking 55-50 Loss to TCU
11/29/2018 | Women's Basketball
Box Score<i class="icon-paper"></i> Final Stats (PDF)<i class="icon-camera"></i> Photos<i class="icon-video"></i> Highlights<i class="icon-video"></i> Postgame
Ole Miss Erased 14-Point Deficit with Powerful Second Half
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss erased a 14-point deficit with a superb second half of basketball, but the TCU Horned Frogs escaped with a 55-50 win after holding on late in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup at The Pavilion on Thursday night.
It was a familiar story for the Rebels (3-5), who for the fourth consecutive game put on a spectacular display in the back half, forcing nine TCU (5-1) turnovers in the third quarter alone toward a 23-10 advantage in the third. But the Horned Frogs prevailed 16-10 in the final quarter the same way they had all game prior: a stifling defense, a wide rebounding margin of 47-32 and on the backs of two impressive outings from Preseason All-Big 12 members Amy Okonkwo (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Jordan Moore (15 points, 15 rebounds).
"Tough one tonight, but I'm so proud of our young ladies," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. "It seems like every time we make a step forward, then something happens to challenge us. Being experienced, I do understand that challenges like this will help us. There are a lot of things that we can build off of, a lot of things we can be proud of, especially with our point guard not being present today."
What Coach Yo is referring to is the unfortunate loss of starting point guard Mimi Reid to a concussion sustained in an accident yesterday, which forced seniors Crystal Allen and Shandricka Sessom into a split of the point position. Despite that, and despite a sluggish first half that saw the Rebels fall down 29-17 at the break, Ole Miss once again put all that behind them toward a spectacular third quarter turnaround.
Senior La'Karis Salter (four points, four rebounds, one assist) helped start the rally early in the third quarter at 9:40 with one of her patented spin-move layups. That led to a Jhileiya Dunlap (10 points, five rebounds, four steals, two blocks, two assists) jumper, a Crystal Allen (eight points, three steals, two assists) layup following a steal, a Cecilia Muhate (four points, five rebounds, one assist) jumper and then a huge three-pointer by Allen to cap an 11-2 Rebel run to cut the TCU lead to 31-28 at the 5:42 mark.
The Rebels would exit the third quarter with a 40-39 lead thanks to a late jumper by Gabby Crawford (five points, four rebounds, one assist). The opening minutes of the fourth were a back-and-forth affair, but a near four-minute scoring drought for Ole Miss proved to be too much in the closing minutes.
Ole Miss has now won the second half in three straight games, including erasing a 19-point lead in a similarly disheartening 64-59 loss to St. John's last Saturday to close out the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"I didn't have to make anyone believe that we could get back in the game," McPhee-McCuin said. "We just knew we had to settle down, and I asked them to give their all on the defensive end."
The central figure tonight, though, was the emergence of redshirt senior and Preseason All-SEC selection Shandricka Sessom on the exact one-year anniversary of her gruesome ACL injury on Nov. 29, 2017, vs. Middle Tennessee – also on national TV on SEC Network. Sessom came out swinging right out of the gate, scoring the first six Rebel points on two three-pointers. She ended up doubling her season total in threes entering tonight, hitting her fourth three at a critical juncture to put Ole Miss within one point at 51-50 with just 59 seconds to play.
Sessom ended the evening with an impressive stat line of 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in 35 minutes played.
Ole Miss doesn't have much time to dwell on this one, though, as Jacksonville State comes to town for a Sunday afternoon tilt at 2 p.m. inside The Pavilion.
"If you looked at the numbers, this TCU team was supposed to beat us by at least 20, and then our point guard goes down? We don't look at those things because we don't concern ourselves with if the stats or if people think the team is better," McPhee-McCuin said. "We just know that the night of the game that we need to be better, and that's what we strive to do. Every game is March Madness for us."
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB on Instagram at Ole MissWBB and on Snapchat with the handle @OleMissWBB. You can also follow head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on Twitter at @YolettMcCuin
It was a familiar story for the Rebels (3-5), who for the fourth consecutive game put on a spectacular display in the back half, forcing nine TCU (5-1) turnovers in the third quarter alone toward a 23-10 advantage in the third. But the Horned Frogs prevailed 16-10 in the final quarter the same way they had all game prior: a stifling defense, a wide rebounding margin of 47-32 and on the backs of two impressive outings from Preseason All-Big 12 members Amy Okonkwo (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Jordan Moore (15 points, 15 rebounds).
"Tough one tonight, but I'm so proud of our young ladies," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. "It seems like every time we make a step forward, then something happens to challenge us. Being experienced, I do understand that challenges like this will help us. There are a lot of things that we can build off of, a lot of things we can be proud of, especially with our point guard not being present today."
What Coach Yo is referring to is the unfortunate loss of starting point guard Mimi Reid to a concussion sustained in an accident yesterday, which forced seniors Crystal Allen and Shandricka Sessom into a split of the point position. Despite that, and despite a sluggish first half that saw the Rebels fall down 29-17 at the break, Ole Miss once again put all that behind them toward a spectacular third quarter turnaround.
Senior La'Karis Salter (four points, four rebounds, one assist) helped start the rally early in the third quarter at 9:40 with one of her patented spin-move layups. That led to a Jhileiya Dunlap (10 points, five rebounds, four steals, two blocks, two assists) jumper, a Crystal Allen (eight points, three steals, two assists) layup following a steal, a Cecilia Muhate (four points, five rebounds, one assist) jumper and then a huge three-pointer by Allen to cap an 11-2 Rebel run to cut the TCU lead to 31-28 at the 5:42 mark.
The Rebels would exit the third quarter with a 40-39 lead thanks to a late jumper by Gabby Crawford (five points, four rebounds, one assist). The opening minutes of the fourth were a back-and-forth affair, but a near four-minute scoring drought for Ole Miss proved to be too much in the closing minutes.
Ole Miss has now won the second half in three straight games, including erasing a 19-point lead in a similarly disheartening 64-59 loss to St. John's last Saturday to close out the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"I didn't have to make anyone believe that we could get back in the game," McPhee-McCuin said. "We just knew we had to settle down, and I asked them to give their all on the defensive end."
The central figure tonight, though, was the emergence of redshirt senior and Preseason All-SEC selection Shandricka Sessom on the exact one-year anniversary of her gruesome ACL injury on Nov. 29, 2017, vs. Middle Tennessee – also on national TV on SEC Network. Sessom came out swinging right out of the gate, scoring the first six Rebel points on two three-pointers. She ended up doubling her season total in threes entering tonight, hitting her fourth three at a critical juncture to put Ole Miss within one point at 51-50 with just 59 seconds to play.
Sessom ended the evening with an impressive stat line of 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in 35 minutes played.
Ole Miss doesn't have much time to dwell on this one, though, as Jacksonville State comes to town for a Sunday afternoon tilt at 2 p.m. inside The Pavilion.
"If you looked at the numbers, this TCU team was supposed to beat us by at least 20, and then our point guard goes down? We don't look at those things because we don't concern ourselves with if the stats or if people think the team is better," McPhee-McCuin said. "We just know that the night of the game that we need to be better, and that's what we strive to do. Every game is March Madness for us."
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB on Instagram at Ole MissWBB and on Snapchat with the handle @OleMissWBB. You can also follow head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on Twitter at @YolettMcCuin
Team Stats
TCU
OM
FG%
.351
.370
3FG%
.211
.556
FT%
.550
.556
RB
47
32
TO
21
17
STL
8
12
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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