Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Opens Conference Play Up Victorious at Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – (Release) Ole Miss women’s basketball kicked off SEC play with a win for the third season in a row, toppling Alabama on its home court, 55-45. The Rebels also left Tuscaloosa with its third consecutive win in Coleman Coliseum since 1987-91.
Ole Miss (11-3, 1-0 SEC) once again proved its defensive prowess by limiting Alabama (13-3, 0-1 SEC) to its lowest point total of the season. For the 25th time in program history, Ole Miss picked up an SEC season opening win and its 16th to open road play in conference.
Defense for Ole Miss truly travels, holding its eighth opponent of the year under 50 points in scoring. A block party broke out for the Rebels with 12 rejections against the Crimson Tide. The 12 blocks mark the most in a game on the road in Ole Miss history. Rita Igbokwe rattled off five blocks, while Marquesha Davis added a career-high tying two.
Riding a five-game streak in double-digit scoring, Kennedy Todd-Williams totaled 10 points joining Madison Scott in double-figures with a team-high 12 points. Igbokwe notched her third game this season with 10 or more rebounds, ending her night with 10 off the glass. Tyia Singleton joined in on the action as well with a season-high best nine rebounds, including six off the offensive glass.
As a team, Ole Miss had its best game of the season from the charity stripe hitting 19-of-24 shots from the line at a 79.2% clip.
Davis kicked the Rebels into gear, scoring Ole Miss’ first bucket of the game leading into a defensive standoff against the Crimson Tide. After forcing four Alabama turnovers, Ole Miss took off on a 9-0 run to grab its first lead of the day and lead through the opening quarter 11-7.
Continuing to flex its muscle, the Ole Miss defense held the Crimson Tide to yet another drought while the Rebel offense ran up the score at the opposite end of the floor. Another quick Rebel run propelled Ole Miss to a 10-point lead, 19-9 at the media break of the second quarter. Limiting Alabama without a field goal the nearly the final five minutes of the half allowed the Rebels to maintain a 27-16 lead heading into the break.
The Crimson Tide showed they weren’t willing to go down without a fight, with a quick 5-0 run to cut the Rebel lead to eight at 31-23 with six minutes to go in the third. Defensively, Ole Miss jumped back into position and forced Alabama into yet another scoring drought. The Rebels fell into a drought of their own, while the Crimson Tide refused to go away, coming within seven at 37-30 heading into the final quarter.
A two-possession game with 6:27 remaining, Ole Miss stayed calm at the charity stripe to build its command back to double-digits. Taking off on an 8-0 run provided the Rebels with its largest lead to date of the game at 51-37 with four minutes left. Despite the effort from the Tide, Ole Miss’ defensive clinic shut Alabama down en route to a 1-0 start to conference play, 55-45.
Ole Miss returns to the SJB Pavilion to face its highest ranked opponent of the season in the defending national champions No. 7 LSU on Sunday (Jan. 7). The Rebels look to knock off a top-10 opponent at home for the first time since 2016, in a nationally televised game at 2:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.
It will be Family Day at the SJB Pavilion. Kids 12 and under in Ole Miss gear can claim a free ticket at the will call window on gameday.
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.
