.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
6-3
Baylor
6-1
Ole Miss Falls to No. 11 Baylor
12/7/2014 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2014
Quotes | Boxscore
OXFORD, Miss - The Ole Miss women's basketball team dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season, as the Rebels (6-3) fell 96-54 to No. 11 Baylor on Sunday afternoon at Tad Smith Coliseum.
"It's been a tough week for our basketball team. We played really well over the Thanksgiving holiday out in Reno, Nevada, and came back home and have not played up to par the last two games. We have to figure out a way to get our effort back right, and our toughness has to get better."
In a rematch of last year's 87-80 thriller in Waco, Baylor (6-1) shot 55.7 percent from the field and held Ole Miss to 27.9 percent shooting. The Bears also held a decisive 56-29 rebounding advantage, including 16 offensive rebounds to just 17 defensive rebounds for the Rebels.
"Baylor has a really good basketball team," Insell said. "They're one of the best teams in the country. I knew that coming in. They were a team we were going to have to play well to beat. They were a team we were going to have to make a lot 50-50 plays to have a chance to beat them. That's how we played with them down there last year. We didn't do that tonight."
The Rebels were led by a trio of players with nine points in senior forward Tia Faleru (Ozark, Ala.), freshman guard Kiara Golden (Olive Branch, Miss.) and sophomore guard Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss), followed by freshman forward Kelsey Briggs (Memphis, Tenn.) and senior forward Danielle McCray (West Palm Beach, Fla.) with eight points each. Faleru also added 12 rebounds, her first game with double-figure rebounds since a career-high 19 against Southern on Nov. 20.
Baylor was by sophomore guard Nina Davis, who finished with a career-high 43 points, the most points in a single game by any women's basketball player in the history of Tad Smith Coliseum. Davis was 14-of-17 from the field and 15-of-19 from the free-throw line, to go along with nine rebounds.
"We worked two days on making her go left, and we let her go right all night long," said Insell, referring to Davis. "If you let her go right, it's over. She gets 43, and it does not surprise that she got 43 because we let her go right all night long. She's a great player."
Down 15-6, Ole Miss scored six straight to tie the game at 15-15 with 11:55 left in the first half. From there, the Bears outscored the Rebels 29-4, including a 16-0 run, on the way to a 44-19 halftime lead.
Baylor shot a blistering 51.6 percent from the floor and held Ole Miss to 18.8 percent shooting in the first half, including a 6:52 scoreless drought and a 9:09 field-goal drought to end the half.
"Early on, we were right there in the game, and when we needed to make some stops and get some things happening, we did not have toughness in those areas," Insell said. "When you let a team like that get away from you, you're not coming back. We let them get away from us there early, and once they get away, they play really well with a lead."
Ole Miss opened the second half on a 5-2 run, drawing to within 22 on the first of two different occasions in the half, but that was the closest the Rebels would get the rest of the way. Baylor never trailed, leading by as many as 44 late in the second half.
The Rebels return to action, continuing a six-game home stand with a non-conference matchup with South Alabama on Sunday, Dec. 14.
"We have to go back to the drawing board this week and figure out some things," Insell said. "I'm going to break down film and figure out what we can fix as a basketball team and why we're not playing as well as we played over Thanksgiving break and how we can start getting back to playing better before we head into SEC play."
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
Kelsey Briggs made her first career start, the third freshman to earn a spot in the starting lineup joining Shandricka Sessom and Toree Thompson… It was the first time this season Ole Miss did not have a player score in double figures… Tia Faleru finished one point shy of her third double-double this season, recording her third double-figure rebound game this season… Nina Davis' 40-point game is the first by by an Ole Miss opponent's player since 2001… It was the 15th time a Baylor player scored 40 or more points in school history… Baylor is the lone opponent for Ole Miss out of the Big 12, the second power five foe Ole Miss has played during the non-conference slate… Ole Miss moves to 16-11 all-time against teams from the Big 12… The Baylor game marks the first of six straight home games for Ole Miss, which includes opening SEC action against Arkansas on Jan. 2.
