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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
15-9, 4-7SEC
LSU
17-7, 6-5SEC
Ole Miss Falls to LSU
2/9/2017 | Women's Basketball
Boxscore 
| Photo Gallery | Press Conference
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team (15-9, 4-7 SEC) dropped a 62-51 contest to LSU at The Pavilion at Ole Miss on Thursday night . The loss was just Ole Miss' second home loss of the season.
Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) paced Ole Miss with 14 points for her third straight game in double figures while Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) added 10 points for her fifth game in double figures. Sessom also paced the way on the defensive end with six rebounds.
Ole Miss trailed by 15 going into the fourth quarter but just wasn't able to generate any momentum on the offensive end in the defeat. Turnovers were a factor as the Rebels posted 23 turnovers leading to 23 LSU points.
The third quarter started much like the second with the Rebels struggling to make shots but midway through the quarter Ole Miss started to force some turnovers and was able to get some points to try and cut into a LSU lead that ballooned to 20 points. Sessom and Taylor Manuel (St. Louis, Mo.) made two buckets inside as Ole Miss cut the lead to 13 points with two minutes left in the quarter forcing LSU to call a timeout but couldn't get closer.
The Rebel offense stalled in the second quarter as the home team only shot 16.7 (2-of-112) percent and was held without a basket for 6:29 allowing LSU to jump out to a 16-point lead -the largest of the half - with 1:32 left in the half. Alissa Alston (New Haven, Conn.) broke the drought with a bucket in the paint with 1:23 seconds remaining as the Tigers took a 32-20 at the end of the second quarter of action.
It was a slow start to the game for the Rebels as LSU went up 4-1 but triples from Muhammad and Sessom gave Ole Miss a 7-6 lead at the 6:05 mark before LSU free throw tied the game at the first quarter media timeout. Out of the media timeout the teams traded buckets but a three-point play from Manuel coupled with a trey at the buzzer from Shequila Joseph (London, England) - her first in eight games - tied the game at 15 at the end of the first quarter.
From The Head Coach
On the defeat...
"We didn't play with very much energy. We came out really dead. I don't know why. I have to figure that out. You hate to see it at this point in the year, but that's what happened. They just out played us. They played with a lot more energy, a lot more toughness, a lot more enthusiasm--point blank, they wanted it more than we did. We'll go back to work. I told the team we have to flush it and move on, we have another game on Sunday."
On bouncing back...
"We have to play hard. We did not play very hard in that game. If we play hard, we have a chance to win any game in this league. We don't play hard, that's what happens. We're going to look back on this one and it's going to be frustrating. I could say a lot of things, but we just didn't have very much energy, toughness or enthusiasm, and that's unacceptable from an Ole Miss basketball team."
Rebel Sidelines
-Today's game was the lone meeting between LSU and Ole Miss this season. LSU leads the all-time series 33-23
-Ole Miss moves to 13-2 at home with tonight's win. It's the most regular season home wins in the Insell era.
-Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Shelby Gibson made her second consecutive start in tonight's contest. She has made three career starts.
-Madinah Muhammad was in double figures for the fifth straight game
-Shandricka Sessom was in double figures for the third straight game
-There are quite a few Tennessee connections tonight. Ole Miss' Alex Simmons', LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell and assistants Tasha Butts all played at Tennessee for the legendary Pat Summitt. Additionally, LSU's Mikki DeMoss was Summitt's top assistant for many years.
Up Next
Ole Miss welcomes Mississippi State to The Pavilion at Ole Miss on Sunday for the ninth annual "Tickled Pink at The Pavilion" game. Tipoff is set for 3 pm and the game will air nationally on the SEC Network.
Next Five Games
Feb. 12 - vs. Mississippi State 3 PM - Tickled Pink at The Pavilion
Feb. 16-vs. Auburn 8 PM
Feb. 19 - at Vanderbilt 2 PM
Feb. 23- at Mizzou 7 PM
Feb. 23 - vs. Texas A&M 4 PM - Senior Day
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.
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