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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
2-3
Stony Brook
3-2
Sessom, Sisk Lead Ole Miss in Win Over Stony Brook
11/27/2015 | Women's Basketball
STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) ran her double-figure scoring streak to five straight with a team-best16 points as the Ole Miss women's basketball team (2-3) picked up a 72-57 win over Stony Brook in New York on Friday afternoon.
Sessom, who scored nine of her team-best 16 points, in the first half, was cold in the second half, but found a way late in the game and nailed a three-pointer at the 5:07 mark of the half which proved to be the difference. A' Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Miss.) picked up her second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds including going 5-of-6 from the stripe in the final minute of action.
Oxford native Erika Sisk added 11 points, while Kelsey Briggs (Memphis, Tenn.) had nine points off the bench.
Stony Brook wouldn't go away and trimmed Ole Miss' lead to just 10 points, but Ole Miss wouldn't go away and freshman Alissa Alston (New Haven, Conn.) come up with two big buckets, including a three-point play, to keep the lead with the Rebels midway through the third quarter.
As the Rebels saw their lead start to dwindle away, the team dug in on defense led by Hayes. Hayes entered the second half with just two points and three rebounds and ended the game tying her career-best with 10 boards, her second career game with double digits boards
Ole Miss opened the game on an 18-4 run and never looked back. The Rebels forced the home team into five early turnovers leading to nine Ole Miss points. Sessom scored seven of Ole Miss' first 11 points and Ole Miss went to work on the defensive end forcing the Seawolves into 10 first quarter turnovers leading to 11 Ole Miss points.
The Rebels dominated the paint in the first quarter scoring 18 points to just five for the visitors, which proved to jumpstart the Ole Miss offense. The Ole Miss defense kept the home team from reaching double digits until 3:40 left in the first quarter.
Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) started to heat up in the second quarter and with back-to-back triples extended Ole Miss' lead to 31-17 with 7:29 left in the second stanza. Defense, which is an area Ole Miss has struggled with this season, was stellar. Bretta Hart (Poplarville, Miss.) led the charge with a game -best seven boards in the first two quarters.
Despite holding a 20-point lead with 2:46 left in the second quarter, Ole Miss went a bit cold from the floor late in the quarter shooting just 1-of-5 to close the half, but still held a 41-25 lead at the break.
From The Head Coach
On the trip and game …
"It's good to get away a little bit, it's been good for our team to get away and sped time with each other. I saw yesterday in practice they started to come together. We're learning. We have a very talented team that is going to do great things this season, but we have to learn each other both on the court and more importantly off the court. This trip has been good for that. We faced a lot of adversity, a lot of foul trouble. They kept battling and kept pushing. They made big shots down the stretch. After she missed a free throw, she stepped back up and made five in a row. I'm just really proud of each of my kids played today. "
On getting back in the win column …
"When we cam back from Middle Tennessee, we met on the bus and we made a deal about how can we help each other. We decided then that we couldn't control the past but we could control the next nine games. Right now, we're 1-0 and we want to be 9-0 when these next nine are over, which puts us at 10-3. Can't get those until you go game-by-game. We grew up a lot today. We made plays when they came back on us, but with the adversity that we faced in the third quarter and with foul trouble I was proud of the way our team responded."
Rebel Sidelines
-Today's game was the first meeting between Ole Miss and Stony Brook. Stony Brook is out of the America East conference. Ole Miss has a perfect 7-0 record against teams from America East. Today's game is the first time Stony Brook has ever faced an SEC school in program history.
-For the second consecutive game Ole Miss used the lineup of Erika Sisk (G), A'Queen Hayes (G), Shandricka Sessom (G), Shequila Joseph (F) and Madinah Muhammad (G). Muhammad becomes the first Ole Miss freshman to start back-to-back contests this season.
-Today's game was the second of a three-game road trip for the Rebels. Ole Miss has been on the road since a Sunday, Nov. 22 trip to Middle Tennessee and will close the road swing at Wagner on Sunday. The three-game road swing is the longest of the season for the Rebels.
-Kelsey Briggs, who sat out the last game at Middle Tennessee with a head injury, dressed for today's contest. She posted nine points.
-Shandricka Sessom extended her double digit scoring streak to five straight this season and six straight daring back to last season. She's led Ole Miss in scoring in three of its five games this season.
-A'Queen Hayes posted her second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She joins Shequila Joseph as the only Rebels to post a double-double this season.
-Today's game was a Homecoming of sorts for Ole Miss freshman guard Alissa Alston (New Haven, Conn.) who hails from nearby Connecticut and also junior manager Jalen Powell who is a Long Island, N.Y. native.
Up Next
Ole Miss closes its three-game road swing at Wagner on Sunday, Nov. 27. The game will tip off at 1 PM ET/12 PM CT from Staten Island. Ole Miss fans can listen to live audio on OleMissSports.com or on 105.1 FM in Oxford.
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.
