LSU Roars Back In Second Half To Defeat Ole Miss

GREENVILLE, SC. (WCBI / Ole Miss)– Senior Taylor Manuel (St Louis, Mo.) was nearly unstoppable inside with 19 points for the Rebels but Ole Miss couldn’t overcome poor shooting in the second half, falling to LSU 65-49 in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

Manuel led the way for Ole Miss with 19 points – the second most points for the Missouri native this season. Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.), who had on off night from the floor with just six points led the way on the glass with eight rebounds. Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) added 12 points.

Ole Miss (17-13) started the game on a tear jumping out to a 9-0 advantage behind a game opening jumper from Manuel and punctuated by a triple from Sessom forcing the Tigers to call a timeout at the 6:18 mark.  The Tigers finally got their first bucket at the 6:03 mark but Ole Miss extended its lead to 12-4 a long triple from Muhammad but the Tigers started to chip back at it at the end of the half using a 11-4 spurt to cut Ole Miss’ lead to 16-13 at the end of one quarter of play.  Ole Miss shot

The Rebels extended their lead to 11 points, 30-19, at the 3:06 mark of the second quarter but it was LSU who got hot late in the quarter using a 10-0 to close the half, cutting Ole Miss’ lead to just one point at the halftime break. One of the highlights of the quarter was an emphatic block from freshman Bree Glover (Glasgow, Ky.) to keep the Tigers at bay.

LSU took its first lead of the game at the 6:28 mark of the third quarter on a triple from Alexis Hyder before Ole Miss tied the game at 34-34 on a bucket from Manuel heading into the third quarter media timeout. The teams traded buckets but LSU used an 8-1 run to take a 41-35 lead but Ole Miss stuck around and used a layup to get the lead to two possessions with 2:49 left in the quarter before went on a 9-1 run to close and take a 14 point lead they wouldn’t give up the rest of the game.

From The Head Coach
On the game …
You know, it’s been an up-and-down season for us. Hated that it ended tonight in the first round of the SEC tournament or second round of the SEC tournament, tonight against an LSU team. LSU played extremely well in the second half and won the basketball game there against us.

On how the season has gone …
I’m real proud of our team. The steps we’ve taken this year off of a season like last year that was not very good, to bounce back and to be 17-13 right now, be eligible for post-season play. Obviously we’ll be in the WNIT. I’m proud of our team players and proud of Taylor Manuel here. It was a good night tonight. Challenged her to be good from the first day she’s been here to be special. She’s done that more times than not. I’m real proud of her, the way she’s played. We’ll be better. We’ll take a couple days off, go home and be a better basketball team.

Senior Taylor Manuel
On what motivated her tonight …
“I’d say, honestly, I’m a senior. I don’t have much time left. I know that I have three other seniors on my team. I feel like we want to go out the best way we can. I was just giving it everything I could. My teammates found me when I was open. Just going out with a lot of power. My coach made an emphasis getting the ball up high on the backboard, going up with power. I focused on that tonight, was pretty successful.”

On the second half …
“Well, they ended the first half with a run. That gave them a little bit of momentum going into the second half. I think they just came out, and they’re a great team. They came out, pushed the ball. I feel like their chemistry was perfect tonight. We didn’t rotate at certain times when we were supposed to. So our defense is what fuels us. At times when our defense isn’t exactly how it needs to be, our momentum is slowed down at times.”

Rebel Sidelines
-Ole Miss and LSU met for the second time this season and for the sixth time in the SEC Tournament. LSU holds a 6-0 series advantage in meetings in the SEC Tournament.

-Taylor Manuel was in double figures for the second straight game and the third time in the last five games.

-Madinah Muhammad posted her 18th game in double figures with 12 points. She has reached double figures in nine of Ole Miss’ last 10 games.

-Shandricka Sessom recorded 5+ rebounds for the 19th time this season

Up Next
Ole Miss will wait for postseason tournament selection. The NCAA and WNIT will make their selections on Monday March 13.

LSU will advance to take on Mississippi State Friday at 5 PM on SEC Network.