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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
19-14
Middle Tennessee State
24-9
Ole Miss Falls at Middle Tennessee
3/26/2015 | Women's Basketball
Boxscore
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The Ole Miss women's basketball team saw its season come to a close with an 82-70 loss to Middle Tennessee in the third round of the WNIT. The Rebels close the season with a 19-14 record and the best record since the 2006-07 season.
Freshman Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) led the Ole Miss offense with 18 points off the bench, while Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) and Danielle McCray (West Palm Beach, Fla.) led the way with six rebounds apiece. A'Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Miss.) added 14 points while McCray tallied 13 points.
Trailing by 15 at halftime, Ole Miss started to find some rhythm in the second half and began knocking down some shots, Sessom hit two big three-pointers and Ole Miss started to drive to the basket and change defenses to keep the home team off balance.
Ole Miss got as close as eight points in the second half behind eight points from Sessom. The teams traded buckets for a while, but a Middle Tennessee layup and a huge offensive rebound turned the momentum to the home team who would push its lead back to double figures.
The Rebels (19-14) outscored Middle Tennessee 44-41 the second half, led by Sessom and Hayes who scored 15 and 11 points, respectively in the second half. Sessom was also a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
Playing on the road for the first time since the SEC Tournament, Ole Miss struggled to find any offensive rhythm early and allowed the home to take a 7-0 lead before a free throw from McCray ended a nearly four minute scoring drought, the buckets seemed to spark the Rebels as Erika Sisk tallied a steak and found Tia Faleru (Ozark, Ala.) for a transition bucket to cut into the Middle Tennessee lead.
Ole Miss had trouble stopping the Blue Raiders who shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the first half and drilled four triples in the first frame with three coming from Olivia Jones. Danielle McCray was a bright spot for Ole Miss as she had nine first half points to lead the Ole Miss offense.
REBEL SIDELINES: Ole Miss closes the season with its best record, 19-14, since the 2006-07 season when they reached the NCAA Elite Eight ... Ole Miss had three players in double figures for the third straight game and moved to 7-3 with at least three players in double figures ... This was the second meeting between Ole Miss and Middle Tennessee this season, Middle Tennessee won both meetings and head coach Matt Insell is 0-2 against his father ... Ole Miss know leads the all-time series 13-5 but Middle Tennessee has won the last three meetings.
