.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
4-1
SEMO
1-3
Last Second Shot from Faleru Lifts Ole Miss
11/25/2014 | Women's Basketball
Quotes | Boxscore | Photo Gallery | Press Conference (Matt Insell and Tia Faleru)
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team closed out its five-game season-opening homestand in thrilling fashion, as a last-second shot from senior forward Tia Faleru lifted the Rebels to a 58-57 win over Southeast Missouri.
"What a way to win it," head coach Matt Insell said. "As I told the team, I don't care how we win games. I don't care if we win by 50, or we win by one, let's just figure out a way to win games. At the end there, we figured it out, and I'm really happy to get that win. I'm proud of our team for continuing to fight."
Ole Miss forced 28 turnovers, including 18 steals, and none were bigger than a deflection by sophomore guard Erika Sisk off a Southeast Missouri player with 0.9 seconds left, giving the ball back to the Rebels, trailing 57-56.
"The last play, she got the deflection on, she showed she's a lot smarter than I am," Insell said. "I was telling her to get up the line and deny, and she comes from behind and steals the ball it in practice all the time, and she did that."
The final play, Insell said, was an inbounds play they work on a lot in practice, but they had not used yet in the game, and freshman guard A'Queen Hayes found Faleru with a bounce pass for the game-winning basket.
"I have never scored a game-winning shot, not even in high school," Faleru said. "It was a big shot. It came down to crunch time, and I do anything for my team to get a win. We executed the play."
Faleru was the lone Rebel in double figures with a game-high 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Freshman forward Kelsey Briggs was second on the team with eight points and six rebounds, followed by four players with six points.
Among those four players were Sisk, who finished with a career-high seven steals, and junior guard Gracie Frizzell, who knocked down two key big 3-pointers in the second half.
"Erika is the energizer bunny," Faleru said. "She brings all the energy to the team defenisely. She's best lock-up defensive player I know. When I'm on the court with her, I have a good feeling that good things are going to happen when she's guarding the ball."
Ole Miss jumped out to a 14-4 lead, leading by as many as 12, on the way to a 30-23 halftime lead. The Rebels forced 17 first-half turnovers, including 12 steals, turning them into 15 points off turnovers.
Southeast Missouri battled back in the second half, taking its first lead of the game, 46-45, with 8:19 left in the game. SEMO shot 50 percent from the field and held Ole Miss to just 29.3 percent (12-of-41) shooting in the second half.
"We got frustrated against the zone offensively, and we let that frustration carry over into our defense," Insell said. "Early in the game, our defense was just unbelievable. We locked them up for the majority of the first half. We had a great first half. We had some let-downs there toward the end of the half, but we had a really good first half defensively."
Ole Miss stretched its lead back to six, 54-48, but Southeast Missouri answered with a 7-0 run to take a 55-54 lead with 3:20 left, before the teams traded baskets in the final minutes, with Faleru's last-second shot proving to be the difference.
"There are going to be days like this, when we have some ups and downs, but we have to find a way, and we found a way to get a win today," Faleru said. "I'm excited for our team going on the road."
The Ole Miss women's basketball team hits the road for the first time this season traveling to Reno, Nevada, where the Rebels will play Utah on Friday and then either Nevada or Portland on Saturday in the John Ascuaga Nugget Classic.
For ticket information, go to OleMissTix.com or call the Ole Miss Ticket Office at 1-888-REB-TKTS (732-8587). Keep up to date with the Ole Miss women's basketball team throughout the season on social media. For all Ole Miss women's basketball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB and on Instagram at Ole Miss_WBB. Fans can also follow Ole Miss women's basketball head coach Matt Insell on Twitter at @minsell.
REBEL SIDELINES
Ole Miss moves to 4-1 this season, its best start since 2012-13, when the Rebels also started 4-1... Ole Miss has won five of its last six home games dating back to last year... Ole Miss is eight wins away from its 400th women's basketball win at the Tad Smith Coliseum... Tia Faleru has scored in double figures in every game this season... For the second straight game, Ole Miss was held without a double-figure rebounder...Ole Miss led for the first 31:41 of the game, before SEMO took its first lead of the game at the 8:19 mark in the second half... Ole Miss has forced 10 or more turnovers in seven different halves this season, including both halves against SEMO... Ole Miss has 10 or more steals in three different halves, including the first half against SEMO... This game closes the longest season-opening homestand in the Insell Era.
