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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
8-2
Oregon
8-2
Ole Miss Takes Down No. 25 Oregon
12/14/2016 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2016
Boxscore 
| Photo Gallery |Press Conference
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team (8-2) took advantage of a huge opportunity at home and came up with a resounding 83-67 win over No. 25 Oregon on Wednesday night at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. The win keeps Ole Miss perfect at home and is Ole Miss' fourth win over a ranked opponent in the last three years and the first over a non-SEC foe since 2006-07.
Taylor Manuel (St. Louis, Mo.) led the charge with a season-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting for the night. Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) tallied 18 points for her second consecutive game in double figures and her sixth of the season. Bretta Hart (Poplarville, Miss.) was two points and a rebound shy of a double-double with a team-best nine rebounds. She also added eight points for her fourth game of five or more points this season.
Ole Miss seemed to dominate from the opening tip, racing out to a 9-2 lead and never looked back. The Ducks, ranked for the first time since 2003-04, never led in the contest and posted 17 turnovers, which led to 23 Ole Miss points.
Holding a 14-point lead entering the third quarter, Ole Miss went to straight into Manuel, who responded by completing an old fashioned three-point play as Ole Miss raced out to a 10-3 advantage in the first three minutes of the third quarter and took a 21-point lead - the largest of the contest at the 7:24 mark of the third quarter and cruised to their seventh straight home win.
Ole Miss' offense was clicking on all-cylinders throughout the contest. The Rebels shot 44.4 percent (32-of-72) for the contest, but proved lethal in transition, owing a 12-2 advantage in fast break points for the contest.
The Rebels pulled ahead, 6-2 early behind the strength of four early points from Manuel while Shelby Gibson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) pushed the lead to seven points with a triple - her third triple in the last three games.
Oregon ought back and cut the Ole Miss lead to 9-7 behind a triple from Maite Carzola. Oregon tied the game at 11 on a pair of free throws from Ruthy Hebard, but Chrishae Rowe (Riverside, Calif.) checked into the game at the 4:04 mark and promptly rattled off four quick points as Ole Miss pulled ahead 19-11 before an Oregon bucket underneath stopped the 7-0 run.
Ole Miss took a 24-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Manuel was the story. The senior posted 10 first quarter points and earned her second consecutive game in double figures after entering the Jackson State game averaging just 5.0 points over her previous three games.
Oregon whittled the lead to just four points and held Ole Miss to just four points to open the second quarter, but Ole Miss got after it on the defensive end and used back-to-back steals resulting in layups from Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) to pushed its lead to 32-24 forcing the Ducks to call a timeout. The Ducks got as close as six points, but Ole Miss' defense was impressive as they took a 10-point lead at the 1:25 mark and took a 49-35 lead into the break.
From The Head Coach
On the win...
"How about that effort there? We dominated from start to finish. Just so proud of our girls and the work they put in. It's so deserving of them. Our kids work hard. I told a group of people yesterday--they're tired of losing. They're ready to win. We had a good crowd, I was happy with that, and what a great job by our team. I'm just so proud of them. I can't be more proud of a team than I am right now."
On Taylor Manuel...
"Every now and then you have to send those knees in for an oil change. We sent them in for an oil change this week and she came out with a lot of energy. She played well. I'm proud of her. She's a good kid and she works hard. She wants to be very good at the game, and she loves playing this game. I'm proud to see her have success. She deserves it. She's had a rocky go at it at her other schools. I'm proud of her."
On Madinah Muhammad...
"I keep telling people, Madinah Muhammad is pretty darn good. She keeps showing people she is too."
On Chrishae Rowe's debut...
"I thought she had a good game. It's going to take time. She had six points. She doesn't really know what we want offensively or defensively right now. She's frustrated, I'm sure. She wants to do better. She'll get better from this game and grow from this. She's going to be a real good player for us. She can't worry about instant success. She has to focus on the process."
On Saturday's matchup with VCU...
"VCU is another top-100 RPI team. That'll be a big one on Saturday. We'll have to go back to work and watch some film and get ready to get another one on Saturday."
Rebel Sidelines
-Today's game was the first meeting between Oregon and Ole Miss. The Rebels move to 1-0 against the Ducks and 6-6 against teams from the Pac-12. Oregon has also played Mississippi State this season at the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
-Ole Miss' win over Oregon gives Ole Miss it's fourth win over a ranked opponent in the Insell era and the first since the Rebels knocked off then-No. 9 Kentucky Jan. 21, 2016. This win is the first over a ranked non-SEC foe since the 2006-07 season.
-Transfer Chrishae Rowe checked in for the first time at the first media timeout. Rowe started her collegiate career at Oregon. Rowe scored her first bucker as a Rebel at the 2:54 mark of the first quarter.
-Taylor Manuel recorded her first 20-point game as a Rebel and joins Madinah Muhammad and Shandricka Sessom as players to record 20 points this season.
-With her 18 points Madinah Muhammad posted her second consecutive game in double figures and her sixth game in double figures this season.
-Shandricka Sessom, who entered the game as Ole Miss' second leading scorer with 13.9 ppg was held to just eight points, only her third game in single digits this season.
Up Next
Ole Miss hosts VCU in a Saturday afternoon matinee at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. The Rebels and Rams tipoff at 1 PM on Saturday in Oxford and will host a postgame Kids Clinic following the game.
Next Five Games
Dec. 17 - vs. VCU 1 PM
Dec. 20 - vs. Austin Peay 6 PM
Dec. 28 - vs. Mississippi Valley State 6 PM
Jan. 1 - vs. Arkansas 4 PM
Jan. 5 - at Alabama 7 PM
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.
