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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
1-2
Missouri State
2-1
Rebels Fall To Missouri State
11/19/2015 | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - Oxford native Erika Sisk had a team-best 18 points while teammate Shequila Joseph (London, England) tallied a career-high 10 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Ole Miss women's basketball team (1-2) dropped a 91-78 contest to Missouri State on Thursday evening.
Ole Miss went on a 18-2 run over the final 4:18 to close the game highlighted by buckets from Joseph and freshmen Cecilia Muhate Pena (Madrid, Spain) and Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.), but for the second consecutive game couldn't overcome a large late game deficit.
Sisk started her 65th consecutive game and reached double figures for the 37th time in her career and for the second time this season. She was also a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Joseph tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Ole Miss struggled from the floor all night and couldn't get into a rhythm, shooting just 29-of-92 from the floor for 31.5 percent. While the Rebels struggled, the Lady Bears shot at a .462 clip, which included 13 three-pointers, which was just three shy of the Tad Smith Coliseum record.
Ole Miss' defense forced the Lady Bears into 14 miscues in which turned into 10 points for Ole Miss ,but visitors were able to take advantage of second chance points, scoring 20 points on second opportunities.
The visitors jumped out to an early lead, but Ole Miss battled back behind the play of Kelsey Briggs (Memphis, Tenn.). Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Briggs went 3-of-3 and nailed a key triple as the Rebels trailed 32-24 after one quarter of action.
Ole Miss started the second quarter with a bucket on their first possession, which sparked the team and led to a 6-1 burst which got the score as close as three-points, but the Lady Bears capitalized from the 3-point line nailing two critical triples to give the Bears a 10-point, 51-41, halftime lead.
From The Head Coach
On what he saw out of his team …
"I saw a very inexperienced and immature basketball team, playing against a team that wanted it more than them. There comes a time in a game where you have to come up with loose balls and come up with rebounds. In the first half (Missouri State) made six threes on second chance effort shots. We were down at the half by ten and those plays have to stop. We shoot the ball 92 times, that's a staggering number, we just need to make shots at the rim."
On what didn't work …
"We've worked two days at denying the ball, but we still let them pass the ball easily from point A to point B. We worked two days non-stop denying the ball, and still let them get in a rhythm and make threes all night long."
On Missouri State's play …
"When you let a team like that do things like that, you're going to get beat. Plain and simple, that's what happened. The other team wanted it more than us tonight. We have to figure out why other teams want it more than us. On the bright side we had Shequila Joseph respond and play well, and Erika Sisk who played hard as well."
Rebel Sidelines
- The Rebels move to 0-2 all-time in the series with the Bears. The teams met for the first time since the 1991 NCAA Elite Eight back when Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State.
-Alissa Alston (New Haven Conn.) and Cecilia Muhate Pena (Madrid, Spain) made their debut in the starting lineup in tonight's contest.
-Ole Miss has trailed at the break in two of its three contests this season but is averaging 50+ points after halftime.
-Jonell Williams scored her first points in an Ole Miss uniform on a pair of free throws
-Shequila Joseph's 16 points are the most since she scored 13 against Western Kentucky on Dec. 4 last season. Her career high is 21 points set her freshman season against Missouri.
-Joseph's double-double was the first for an Ole Miss player this season
Up Next
Ole Miss heads to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on Middle Tennessee in the third and final installment of Insell vs. Insell on Sunday (Nov. 22). The Rebels and Blue Raiders tipoff at 1 pm in a game that will be televised nationally on Fox. Tom Werme and Debbie Antonelli will be on the call.
Keep Up With the Rebels
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 MissWBB. Fans can also follow Ole Miss women's basketball head coach Matt Insell on Twitter at @minsell.
