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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
4-0
High Point
1-2
Strong Finish Propels Rebels Past High Point
11/20/2016 | Women's Basketball
Boxscore
| Photo Gallery OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team had to fight tooth and nail for the victory, but the Rebels came out on top with a 73-62 win over High Point on Sunday afternoon. The win moves Ole Miss to 4-0 on the season - the best start in the Insell era.
The fourth quarter was extremely competitive with both teams battling every single possession. Shelby Gibson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) completed an old-fashioned three-point play and Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) nailed a triple to give Ole Miss a 66-59 lead with 3:58 left - the largest Ole Miss lead of the game. Ole Miss (4-0) really clamped down on the defensive end of things in the fourth quarter limiting High Point to just nine points, while forcing four fourth quarter turnovers en route to the victory.
Sessom led the way with 18 point to lead all-scorers, while Shequila Joseph (London, England) tied her career high with 10 rebounds. Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) flirted with a triple double falling two assists and two rebounds shy of the milestone.
Sessom came out strong to start the third quarter with five unanswered points as Ole Miss jumped ahead 27-34, but High Point quickly got back in the groove and nailed a triple, but Ole Miss kept on the offensive and with a Lewis triple forced High Point to call an early timeout. Despite the early lead, High Point wouldn't go quietly and tied the game, 40-40, at the 5:46 mark - the 10th tie of the game.
The teams battled throughout the third quarter much like the first half. Bretta Hart (Poplarville, Miss.) provided some quality minutes off the bench with a season-high six points in 10 minutes.
Ole Miss jumped out to 10-4 lead on the strength of a five early points from Lewis who was making her first start of the season and seventh of her career. Despite an early lead six-point lead, the Panthers used a 4-0 spurt to cut the game to just two points at the first media timeout. High Point tied the game, but a bucket from Sisk and a trey from Joseph kept the lead with Ole Miss, but it was a tight game, 19-17, at the end of the first quarter.
The visitors tied the game out of the quarter break and it was a back-and-forth affair for the majority of the second quarter, with neither team taking more than a two point lead in the quarter in a half that featured eight ties and four lead changes. Gibson was a spark off the bench late in the quarter with six quick points in the second stanza, but neither team could pull away late as Ole Miss took a slim 29-27 lead into the break.
From The Head Coach
On the win...
"We'll take it. We didn't play one of our better games. We had a lack of energy there to start, but we settled in there and got a win. We were having a mismatch in so many situations. We got a player back (Alissa Alston) and we have another one out (Madinah Muhammad). We were missing Madinah Muhammad, and she was leading us in minutes. Now she's not in there. She makes a lot of things go for us. It was frustrating at times but we found a way on a bad night to get a win."
On the close game...
"I think they handled it well. I don't think there was ever any doubt. It felt like we were in control most of the basketball game. It was back and forth, back and forth, but we made some plays there. We had some foul trouble. But in the fourth quarter, we finished the game on a 19-9 run."
On Erika Sisk...
"How great of a start to the season has she had? 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and just two turnovers in 37 minutes. The way she's playing is really exciting."
On the upcoming road trip...
"I hope we get on the plane on Thursday and at least have 12 players who can play. That would help things a lot. That would be the biggest thing, to make sure we're healthy. We just have to go on the road and give ourselves a chance to get two big wins. We're playing Wisconsin out of the Big Ten, which is a great team, good program. Then you have UNLV second game more than likely. UNLV beat USC last night by about 12 points, which is a big win for them. We have two tough ones on the road, and we're prepared for that. If we're healthy, I feel really, really good about that. If we're not, we are going to have to piece it together again. I don't care if we win by one. We're excited about going on the road, going to Las Vegas and getting away a little bit and having a big weekend there in Vegas."
Rebel Sidelines
-Ole Miss picks up its first win over High Point in the first two meetings between the teams. Ole Miss moves to 2-0 against teams from the Big South.
-Ole Miss debuted a new lineup today with Torri Lewis earning her first start of the season and her seventh career start in place of Madinah Muhammad who is dealing with concussion symptoms.
-Alissa Alston made her season debut in tonight's game after missing the first three games with a shoulder injury.
-Shequila Joseph extended her consecutive games with a 3-PT field goal to four straight games and five of her last six dating back to last season.
-Ole Miss moves to 2-0 in games against Big South opponents and 1-0 against High Point.
-Shandricka Sessom has reached double figures in each game this season and has extended her scoring and rebounding streak to 35 consecutive games.
-Erika Sisk flirted with the fourth triple double in program history with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. The eight assists ties her career high.
-Today's matchup was one of two of the youngest coaches in Division I. When head coach Matt Insell was hired in 2013 at 30 he was the second youngest coach in Division I to High Points DeUnna Hendrix, who was 29 at the time.
Up Next
Ole Miss will travel to Sin City for the UNLV Lady Rebel Roundup. The Rebels will open tournament action against Wisconsin on Saturday at 12:30 CT and will play either host UNLV or Tennessee State on Sunday. For ticket information go to OleMissTix.com or call the Ole Miss Ticket Office at 1-888-REB-TKTS (732-8587).
Next Five Games
Nov. 26 - vs. Wisconsin^ 4:30 PM
Nov. 27 - vs. TBA^ 2/4:30 PM
Dec. 1 - vs. Jackson State@ 11 AM
Dec. 4 - at West Virginia# 3 PM
Dec. 10 - vs. Louisiana Monroe 1 PM
^-At UNLV Lady Rebel Roundup (Las Vegas, Nevada)
@-14th Annual Kids Game
#-SEC/Big 12 Challenge
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 on Instagram at Ole MissWBB and on Snapchat with the handle @OleMissWBB. Fans can also follow Ole Miss women's basketball head coach Matt Insell on Twitter at @minsell.
