Women’s Basketball Drops Close Contest With No. 17 Utah
NASSAU, Bahamas – (Release) Ole Miss women’s basketball (5-1) took their first loss of the season Wednesday night in a tightly contested matchup with No. 17 Utah (6-0), 69-67. There were eight lead changes in the contest and both teams led for at least 16 minutes of play, as the two squads went back and forth in the Bahamas.
Four Rebels reached double-digits in scoring on the night. Marquesha Davis was the leading scorer for the Rebels, putting up a career-high 18 points. The senior also pulled down a season-high eight rebounds and went six-for-six from the free throw line.
Snudda Collins tied her season-high with 16 points, Angel Baker dropped in 13 points, and Myah Taylor hit 10 points for the first time this season.
The Rebel defense continued to show out as they held Utah to their lowest scoring total of the season at 69 points. The Utes came into the game averaging 100.2 points per game and were the second-best scoring offense in the nation.
Davis came out of the locker room hot as she went 3-for-4 from the floor in the opening quarter. Of the 19 points scored by Ole Miss in the first quarter, Davis had nine including the final five to keep the Rebels down by just one at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Utah scored the first six points of the second quarter and had built up a 26-19 lead just three minutes into the second period. With 6:24 left to play until halftime, Collins hit a layup that sparked a 10-2 scoring run for the Rebels, giving them their first lead of the game. Ole Miss would end up outscoring Utah 16-7 the rest of the way and took a 35-33 lead into halftime.
Ole Miss held onto their lead for most of the third quarter and even built a five-point lead with 6:12 left in the game. The Utes then went on an 11-2 scoring run in which they held the Rebels to 0-for-5 from the floor and turned the tide.
With one minute left to play and Utah leading 67-63, Baker knocked down two free throws followed by a jumper from Collins to tie the game with 20 seconds to go. Utah went down the court looking to take the final shot of regulation, drawing a shooting foul on a three-pointer with .6 on the clock. Kennady McQueen hit two of her three free throws, sealing the win for Utah.
The Rebels will now return home to Oxford where they will host Texas Southern on Monday November 28.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
