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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
10-15, 2-10SEC
Texas A&M
18-7, 8-4SEC
Rebels Fall to No. 12 Texas A&M
2/15/2016 | Women's Basketball
Boxscore | Photo Gallery | Press Conference
OXFORD, Miss. - Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) led the Ole Miss women's basketball team (10-15, 2-10 SEC) with13 points off the bench, but the team dropped a 62- 48 contest to the No. 12 Aggies on Monday evening at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Sessom, who came off the bench for the first time this season, posted her 21st game in double figures and was joined in double figures by A'Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Miss.) with 10 points for her second straight game in double figures and Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) who added 11 points. Hayes and Bretta Hart (Poplarville, Miss.) led the way on the glass with eight rebounds each while Shequila Joseph (London, England) also added seven rebounds.
Ole Miss struggled from the field all night and shot just 22.4 percent percent from the floor but had a strong showing on the defensive end keeping the battle of the boards close, 47-38, an area in which the Rebels have improved over the course of the last several games. Ole Miss forced the Aggies into 20 turnovers on the night and picked up 12 points off Aggie miscues.
The Rebels were aggressive in the fourth quarter, trying to force some Texas A&M turnovers and it paid off as Ole Miss got as close as 12 late in the game and won the quarter by a margin of 20-17, but the Rebels couldn't complete the comeback, falling to 0-2 against the Aggies this season.
Trailing by 11 entering the third quarter, Sessom picked up four quick points and helped the Rebels gain a little momentum back but Ole Miss had no answer for the inside scoring of the Aggies who held a 22-10 advantage in the paint at the 3:50 mark of the third quarter and closed the game with a 34-18 advantage.
Texas A&M jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the first media timeout, courtesy of a 6-0 advantage in the paint by the Aggies as the Rebels opened the game 1-of-11 and 0-4 from long range. Ole Miss ended a nearly five minute scoring drought with a free throw at the 2:44 mark. Texas A&M ran it's lead up to 14 points before Ole Miss started to cut into it midway through the second quarter. Joseph nailed a triple from the left side and then Sessom added a put-back underneath as the Rebels picked up some momentum. Ole Miss shot just 18.4 percent (7-of-38) from the floor in the first half and was just 1-of-10 from long range.
From The Head Coach
On the positives of tonight's game…
"We have really good players. We did a really good job on the boards tonight. I don't know how many offensive boards we gave up at A&M, but I told the team we really needed to focus on rebounding and I thought we did a good job. We got beat by eight rebounds but we turned them over eight more times so that's eight more opportunities. We shot it 71 times to their 51, so we shot it about 20 more times allowing them to get more rebounds. We held them to nine offensive boards, so that's good."
On stopping Texas A&M's momentum...
"I thought we had a chance there. We missed a three to cut it to eight or nine, whatever it was, there in the fourth. We didn't change anything we were doing offensively; we just attacked the rim. Erika Sisk got back to playing like Erika Sisk. She went 3-of-12 but she was going to the rim so I was real happy with her. Shandricka had one shot where I thought she settled and I got on her, but I thought she did better tonight. I didn't not start her because I was mad at her or anything; I did it to help Shandricka get through this slump that she's in. She's getting better, though. Erika got back to getting the ball to the basket and I'm real happy with her and the way she played."
On the process...
"When you're in the process of building a program you have situations like this. Look at Auburn last year. They were 0-and-13 in the league and we beat them to make it 0-and-14. They got a few wins there at the end, but they were playing with all young players. Look at them now, they're 8-and-4 and fourth or third place in the league. Those kids developed and got better over the year, and it's hard to win in this league in any sport. When you have young players it's very hard, but this is just part of the process we're in right now. We fixed problems with this team in a huge way, I've said that several times, and nothing against any of our players but where we have problems with our basketball team we've fixed that in huge ways."
Rebel Sidelines
-Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 6-1, and has won the last five meetings in the series.
-Ole Miss used its seventh lineup of the season in tonight's contest going with A'Queen Hayes, Erika Sisk, Madinah Muhammad, Shequila Joseph and Bretta Hart. Hart make her second career start in tonight's contest.
- Torri Lewi's six game three-point field goal streak was snapped, as she didn't even attempt a three-pointer.
-Sessom was back in double figures after two consecutive games in single digits. Sessom has been in double figures 21 times this season
-A'Queen Hayes posted five or more rebounds for the fourth time in the last five games.
-Ole Miss shot under 30 percent for the third time in the last five games.
Up Next
The Rebels will hit the road as they travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the Lady Volunteers. The game will be on SEC Network+ and fans in the Oxford, Lafayette area can hear Graham Doty and Armintie Herrington on the call on 105.1/105.5 in Oxford/Batesville and on OleMissSports.com
Next Five Games
2/18/16- at Tennessee 6 p.m. SEC Network+
2/21/16- vs. Mississippi State* 4 p.m. ESPN2
2/25/16- vs. South Carolina 8 p.m. SEC Network&
2/28/16- at Arkansas 3 p.m. SEC Network
3/2-6/16- at SEC Tournament TBA SEC Network
*Play4Kay/Tickled Pink at The Pavilion Game
&- SEC Network Whiparound coverage
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. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
