Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Advances To WNIT Third Round

OXFORD, Miss. (Ole Miss Athletics) — The Ole Miss women’s basketball team picked up its second win in the Postseason WNIT with a 63-48 win over Georgia Tech at Tad Smith Coliseum on Sunday night. The win sets up a rematch with Middle Tennessee State, also a winner on Sunday, in the Sweet 16 of the Postseason WNIT.

“What a great win for our program,” head coach Matt Insell said. “I keep saying it, but in year two of our process, not a lot of people thought we would be at this point. Georgia Tech is a very good basketball team and they have one of the best players in the country on their team.

“I was really proud of the way we came out with energy and how we got going there from the tip. I’m really proud of every one of our basketball players. We’re a growing team and we’re getting better each and every day. What a great win team over a really good Georgia Tech basketball team.”

Three Rebels finished in double figures, led by senior forward Tia Faleru (Ozark, Ala.) with 24 points and 10 rebounds, her 14th double-double of the season and the 34th of her career. She was joined in double figures by sophomore guard Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) (14 points) and senior forward Danielle McCray (West Palm Beach, Fla.) (12 points).

As a team, Ole Miss (19-13) shot just 34 percent from the field and 5-for-20 from 3-point range, but the Rebels wreaked havoc on the defensive end, causing 23 turnovers and turning them into 30 points off turnovers. Ole Miss also held Georgia Tech (19-15) to 34 percent shooting, including just 3-for-18 from 3-point range.

The Rebels also held the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer, Kaela Davis, to seven points, just her third game in single figures this season. Davis battled foul trouble throughout and played just 18 minutes, before fouling out with 7:49 left.

“We did a great job defensively,” Insell said. “Kaela Davis is really good. I told our team that you have to get her frustrated. A’Queen Hayes played 40 minutes and she guarded her every second that she was in the game, and she did a great job of getting her frustrated, which made her commit some ill-advised fouls, and then when she got fouled out, we took control of the game.”

In a first half that featured four ties and three lead changes, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech went into halftime tied at 24-24. Ole Miss opened the game on a 7-1 run, forcing three turnovers and holding Georgia Tech without a made field goal until the 14:45 mark in the first half.

The Yellow Jackets answered back with an 8-0 run to take a 9-7 lead and led for most of the half, before the Rebels made a 6-0 run to retake a 23-22 lead with 4:07 left. The late run started with pressure on the defensive end as Ole Miss forced 11 first-half turnovers and turned them into 13 points off turnovers.

Senior guard Amber Singletary (Baltimore, Md.), freshman forward Kelsey Briggs (Memphis, Tenn..) and Sisk knocked down three straight 3-pointers as part of an 11-2 run that turned a 35-32 deficit with 14:42 left into a 41-37 lead with 12:40 left.

“We amped our defense up,” Insell said. “We went back to pressing full court and doing some things with that. We got back to that during the break before postseason play. Erika Sisk and A’Queen Hayes are really good in our press.”
The Rebels led the rest of the way, pushing the lead to double digits, 53-43, with 4:53 left on the way to the 63-48 final.

With the win, the Rebels advance to the Sweet 16 of the Postseason WNIT, where Insell will face his father, Rick Insell, and his father’s Middle Tennessee State team. It will be rematch from a previous regular-season meeting, which the Blue Raiders won 71-65 in Oxford on Nov. 23.

REBEL SIDELINES: Ole Miss has won four straight games at Tad Smith Coliseum… Ole Miss has won multiple postseason games for the first time since 2006-07… Ole Miss has advanced to the third round of the Postseason WNIT for the second time and the first time since 2008-09… Ole Miss moves to 4-5 in WNIT games and 22-22 all-time in postseason games, including a 3-0 mark in postseason games at Tad Smith Coliseum… Ole Miss is now one win away from its first 20-win season since 2006-07… Ole Miss won the first meeting all-time between the two schools and moves to 14-14 all-time against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference… Ole Miss forced 20 or more turnovers for the 18th time this season… Tia Faleru scored in double figures for the eighth straight game… For Faleru, it was her seventh 20-point game this season and the 18th of her career… For Faleru, it was her 14th double-double of the season and the 34th of her career.