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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
12-3, 1-1SEC
Alabama
13-2, 1-1SEC
Ole Miss Rally Falls Just Short at Alabama
1/5/2017 | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team (12-3, 1-1 SEC) cut Alabama's once 18-point fourth quarter lead all the way to five points with less than a minute remaining behind a whopping 16 fourth-quarter points from Chrishae Rowe (Riverside, Calif.), but came up short in a 90-80 road loss to the Crimson Tide.
Down 17 points to start the fourth quarter, Ole Miss turned to junior guard Rowe, who filled up the stat sheet. She scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter as the Rebels chipped away at the lead. Ole Miss got the Alabama (13-2, 1-1 SEC) lead to five points twice in the final 1:30 of the game, but with 25 seconds remaining, the home team closed the game with five unanswered to earn the win.
Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) led the team with 20 points while Rowe added 18 points, 16 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) was also in double figures with 14 points. Shequila Joseph (London, England) led the rebounding efforts with six.
Ole Miss sliced the Crimson Tide lead down to just six at halftime, but Alabama came out of the break with a 6-0 run getting the gap back up to 12 points. With 2:50 left in the third quarter, Ole Miss used a triple at the top of the key from Sessom to get the lead to under 10 points, but Alabama used an 11-2 run to close the quarter and open up a 63-46 lead at the end of the third.
Ole Miss trailed by 15 points early in the second quarter and struggled with fouls with both Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) and Alissa Alston (New Haven, Conn.) saddled with three fouls each by the seven minute mark, but with six minutes remaining, a bucket underneath from Shelby Gibson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) sparked an 8-0 Ole Miss run which saw the Rebels get themselves right back in the game.
The teams traded buckets over the course of the next several minutes, but Ole Miss used a trey from Torri Lewis (Olive Branch, Miss.) and an old-fashioned three-point play form Muhammad down the stretch to cut a once 15-point lead down to just two possessions and six points at halftime.
Three-point shooting was a factor in the first quarter, as the home team was 5-of-9 from long range while Ole Miss was 2-of-8. Additionally, Ole Miss forced the Tide into 10 turnovers but could only capitalize to the tune of four points.
It was a fast start for both teams. Muhammad and Sessom accounted for nine of Ole Miss' first 11 points, but Alabama held a 15-11 lead at the first media timeout. Out of the media timeout, Ole Miss forced a 5-second call but the Crimson Tide used triples from Hannah Cook and Meoshanti Knight to spark an 11-2 run to take a 26-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
From The Head Coach
On the game ...
"I don't think I've ever seen a stat sheet that way. The kids fought hard to get back in the fourth quarter to get it to five points. There wasn't a chance for us to get in any kind of flow defensively with the way the game was being called and we didn't adjust very well to that. We did not change the way we played. 41 fouls in a game, I don't think I've ever seen that, but I'll go back and look at the tape. Every time we got close to anyone we got called and there isn't much you can say about that. The kids played hard there at the end, but we had some poor moments early in the game by some kids we depend on a lot and we'll have to fix that. As I told them in the locker room, it's unacceptable. We have to learn how to win games and big games and go back-to-back. We can win games at home ,but we have struggled on the road and a lot of it has to do with our attitude. I told the team selfishness comes in a lot of different ways and when you come out on a road unfocused it's selfish."
How do we fix some of the issues from tonight's game ...
"We'll practice at Auburn tomorrow morning and get after it. There were some bright spots, Kate Rodgers and Chrishae Rowe off the bench. Shelby Gibson they didn't really let her play and Taylor Manuel didn't ever get in the flow of the game. Madinah Muhamamd and Shandricka Sessom they played hard and Erika Sisk she didn't ever get to play her game"
Rebel Sidelines
-Ole Miss has a 34-23 series advantage with today's loss and remains winless in Tuscaloosa since 2012.
-Ole Miss' loss is the ninth straight SEC road loss for the Rebels. Ole Miss last won an SEC road game on Feb. 19, 2015 with a win at Auburn.
-Madinah Muhammad was in double figures for the eighth time with 20 points, her fourth 20-point game of the season.
-Shandricka Sessom reached double figures for the fifth consecutive game and the 12th time this season.
-Ole Miss had five players foul out in the contest and for the game a combined six players fouled out.
Up Next
Ole Miss wraps up a two-game road swing through Alabama with a Sunday afternoon matchup at Auburn. The Rebels and Tigers will square off from Auburn Arena at 3 PM on the SEC Network.
Next Five Games
Jan. 8 - at Auburn 3 PM
Jan. 12- vs. Tennessee 6 PM
Jan. 16- at Mississippi State 6 PM
Jan. 19- at South Carolina 6 PM
Jan. 22-vs. Alabama 2 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.
