Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Grinds Out Victory in Defensive Showdown over Auburn
OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Starting off week two of SEC play, Ole Miss women’s basketball fended off a pesky Auburn team, 58-55 to pick up its second conference win of the year on Thursday night from the SJB Pavilion.
Ole Miss (12-4, 2-1 SEC) edged out Auburn (11-5, 0-3 SEC) by holding the Tigers to its lowest field goal percentage of the season at 29.1%. For the seventh game this year, Marquesha Davis paced the Rebels with 15 points. With her 10th game in double-figure scoring this season, Madison Scott tallied 10 points, five rebounds, three blocks and tied her career-best with eight assists. Since switching to the point, Scott has dished out five or more assists in the last three games.
For the fourth time this season, Ole Miss reached double-digit rejections by blocking 10 shots against the Tigers. Rita Igbokwe grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Rebels, while adding six points and continued her tear around the rim with another three rejections. Scott’s three blocks marked a season best for the senior.
The Rebel defense brought the pressure early holding the Tigers scoreless in the opening minutes of competition. A Kennedy Todd-Williams steal resulted in a Tyia Singleton layup to begin a Rebel 6-0 scoring run.
Scott contributed with back-to-back layups to add to the Rebel lead. The Ole Miss defense held Auburn without a field goal until almost midway through the first quarter. Defensively, Ole Miss remained strong forcing another Tiger scoring drought to hold a 14-10 lead through one.
Continuing the block party, Scott opened the second quarter with yet another rejection. The Tigers battled back in an attempt to shorten their deficit, however the Rebels responded offensively with Ayanna Thompson draining the team’s lone triple of the game.
Holding Auburn to 21% from the field in the first half, Ole Miss led 27-21 headed into the break. Coming out swinging with an 11-0 run, Ole Miss was rearing to go by forcing six Auburn turnovers to open the quarter.
Ole Miss worked to create separation, by forcing the Tigers into their longest scoring drought of the game of over four minutes. Out-scoring Auburn 22-13 in the the third, Ole Miss led 49-34 heading into the final 10 minutes
Cutting the Ole Miss advantage to seven with six minutes remaining, Auburn proved that it wasn’t ready to go away just yet. Auburn continued to creep toward the lead, narrowing the advantage to three with help at the free throw line. With just a few minutes remaining, the Rebels fought hard to defend the rim.
Despite their effort, the Tigers narrowed the lead to one with an and-one with 1:01 left. A Todd-Williams jumper provided the Rebels with a three point advantage with 30 seconds remaining. Kharyssa Richardson iced the game for Ole Miss at the free-throw line, defeating Auburn, 58-55.
The Rebels hit the road for the first of two meetings against Mississippi State in a Magnolia state rivalry on Sunday (Jan. 14). The two teams face off in Starkville at 4:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network, with the Rebels on the hunt to pick up their third straight win against the Bulldogs.
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.
