Rebels Fall to Jacksonville State, 60-49

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss women's basketball had trouble finding a way to score against a stout Jacksonville State defense, falling 60-49 to the Gamecocks at The Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

The Rebels (3-6) received two more solid scoring outings from Crystal Allen (19 points) and Shandricka Sessom (14 points), but JSU (4-3) used a 40-minute full-court press to force 20 Rebel turnovers while also stymying the inside game for Ole Miss en route to victory.

"(JSU) fought and they wanted it," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. "They came out and they stuck to their gameplan. They did what it took, and we didn't, and that's how you win games and lose games. They pressured us for 40 minutes, they helped off a lot inside and did not allow us to get a lot of clean looks inside without us being crowded. On drives they were waiting there, and instead of us making one more pass we tried to run them over."

It was an offensive showcase by both teams in the first quarter, with Ole Miss ripping off a 10-0 run to take a 20-15 lead. The Rebels would only score 29 points the remainder of the game, however, as JSU held Ole Miss to 23.9 percent shooting in the final three quarters after the Rebels drained 52.9 percent in the first frame.

Allen and Sessom were a big part of that first quarter run, combining for 14 of the 20 Rebel points with seven apiece, but both also had to split point guard duties for the second straight game as freshman Mimi Reid remained out with a concussion. Combined with the full-court pressure from the Gamecocks, it made for a difficult day for the Rebel seniors – despite strong scoring outputs.

"They turn a lot of people over because of their pressure defense, and honestly I was concerned because of our lack of point guard play," McPhee-McCuin said. "It just made Crystal and Drique play a lot of minutes and put them in positions that are at a disadvantage to us. It was a different type of pressure from TCU where we were able to bring the ball up the floor. This game, they made those girls work for every shot."

Combined, Allen (19 points, three assists, two rebounds) and Sessom (14 points, six rebounds, two assists) shot 12-of-29 from the field and 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Allen currently has 977 career points, just 23 shy of making her the 30th Rebel to ever pass 1,000. Sessom, meanwhile, passed Erika Sisk (1,187) and Becky Myatt (1,191) to take sole possession of 18th all-time at Ole Miss with 1,197 points scored. She also surpassed 500 career rebounds this afternoon, putting her in place to become just the 13th Rebel to ever score 1,200 points and record 500 boards.

Junior Jhileiya Dunlap also had another solid game with six points and eight rebounds, her sixth consecutive game with at least six points and four rebounds.

Jacksonville State, meanwhile, was paced by three in double-digits, led by Alabama transfer Destiney Elliott's 20 points and eight rebounds on 8-of-17 shooting. The Gamecocks won the offensive glass, 19-11, and turned 20 Rebel turnovers into 24 points. Entering today, JSU was averaging 21.7 turnovers forced on defense per game.

"I'm not taking anything away from Jacksonville State," McPhee-McCuin said. "I felt like we lost the last game (vs. TCU). Jacksonville State beat us today."

Ole Miss will receive a small break this week for finals, with the next game vs. Savannah State scheduled for Saturday afternoon (Dec. 8) at 2 p.m. CT inside The Pavilion.

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

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Team Stats

Crystal Allen

Shandricka Sessom

Dunlap Jhileiya

Gabby Crawford

Players Mentioned

Crystal Allen

Mimi Reid

Shandricka Sessom

Players Mentioned

Crystal Allen

Mimi Reid

Shandricka Sessom

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