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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Southeastern Louisiana
Ole Miss Defeats Southeastern Louisiana in OT Thriller
12/29/2014 | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team closed out the non-conference slate with a thrilling 79-71 overtime win over Southeastern Louisiana in former Rebel Yolanda Moore' homecoming. In a game that featured six ties and 13 lead changes Tia Faleru lead the way for Ole Miss with 18 points and 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double.
Faleru put her team on her back in the final three minutes of regulation and in overtime scoring 14 of her game-high 18 points after the first half. Fellow senior Danielle McCray (West Palm Beach, Fla.) also came up big with 13 points and seven rebounds, while A'Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Miss.) had a career-best 15 points as the Rebels picked up win No. 10 and extended their win streak to four straight.
Trailing by four at halftime, the Rebels came out on the offensive and used a 6-1 run to regain the lead and force the third score change between the teams. A'Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Miss.) knocked down a crucial triple at the 15:40 mark to give the home team a 42-40 lead, but it was a battle throughout the second half as neither team was able to gain a lead of more than four points. The Rebels looked like they had the game won in regulation up 67-65 with 20 seconds left but a layup from Peaches Anderson sent the game into overtime where the Rebels outscored Southeastern Louisiana, 12-4 to pick up the victory.
With Ole Miss (10-3) trailing by four in the second half, Amber Singletary (Baltimore, Md.) drilled a triple followed by a bucket from Kelsey Briggs (Memphis, Tenn.) which seemed to spark the home team but it was Southeastern Louisiana that got hot, pulling ahead 54-49 with 6:22 remaining.
Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) got after it on the defensive end, single-handedly forcing the Lady Lions into several turnovers on out of bounds plays and on the other end Danielle McCray (West Palm Beach, Fla.) was blocking shots and taking charges all over the court.
The teams traded buckets for the first few possessions but the visitors took an early 6-2 lead forcing Ole Miss to call a timeout before going on a 7-0 run over a span of 1:43 to regain possession with 15:02 on the clock. The Rebels opened up a 12 point-lead at 18-6, but the Lady Lions roared back with seven unanswered to get within five points.
From that point the game was a battle as the teams traded buckets for the better part of the half, but with the game tied at 27 with 3:33 left in the half Southeastern Louisiana scored four unanswered to take a 31-27 lead and took a 35-31 lead into halftime.
Freshman Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) was a pleasant surprise in the first half with seven first half points while going 3-of-4 from the floor. Kelsey Briggs (Memphis, Tenn.) and Bretta Hart (Poplarville, Miss.) were also productive in the first half with six and five points, respectively.
Ole Miss jumps into SEC action hosting Arkansas on Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. in the SEC opener for both squads. Fans can watch exclusively on the WatchESPN App.
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: A familiar face was on the sidelines as former Ole Miss Rebel Yolanda Moore and current Southeastern Louisiana coach, played at Ole Miss from 1992-96 under legendary head coach Van Chancellor … Gracie Frizzell has now hit at least one triple in her last four games … Shandricka Sessom extended her scoring streak to seven consecutive games … Gracie Frizzell started the second half in place of Shandricka Sessom who was unavailable due to an ankle injury suffered in the first half … Ole Miss played its first OT game of the season. The Rebels have played at least one OT game in each of the last nine seasons and is 20-22 in OT games all-time.
