Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Is Knocked Out Of SEC Tournament

LITTLE ROCK (Ole Miss Athletics) — The Ole Miss women’s basketball team battled the entire afternoon but couldn’t overcome the Razorbacks in a 72-61 loss in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Verizon Arena.

Senior Tia Faleru (Ozark, Ala.) led the way with 19 points, 12 coming in the second half, while Danielle McCray (West Palm Beach, Fla.) posted a team-best five rebounds. A’Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Miss.) was also in double figures with 12 points and a career-best six assists, while Little Rock native Gracie Frizzell added 11 points for her fourth straight game in double figures.

Ole Miss had a hard time stopping the Razorbacks who shot a blistering 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from the floor in the second half but despite that they found themselves with a change down the stretch. A triple – her second of the season – from Faleru coupled with a bucket from Hayes got the lead to eight points but the Razorbacks hit free throws down the stretch seal the win.

Out of the break, Ole Miss went to its All-SEC first team selection, Faleru for the first two buckets of the game, giving her 11 points for her 17th game in double figures this season The Rebels found themselves in a battle for much of the second half as they were cold form the floor, shooting 5-of-15 from the floor through the first eight minutes as the Razorbacks ran their lead to a game-best 14 points.

The Rebels started the game fast and jumped out to a 4-0 lead but the Razorbacks battled to back to tie the game at 4 at the 16:49 mark. Ole Miss dug in on defense and forced two quick turnovers that led to back-to-back buckets just before the first media timeout, which gave Ole Miss the 8-4 advantage early.

Ole Miss settled in on the defensive end and started to pressure the Razorbacks, which took them out of their rhythm and allowed the Rebels to go on a 6-1 run with pushed their lead to 12-5 early. Ole Miss’ pressure defense forced Arkansas into six first half turnovers and they scored eight points off of them.

Arkansas went on a 5-0 un courtesy of McKinley Bostad to take a 25-22 lead at the 3:55 mark – the first lead of the game for Arkansas. The Razorbacks took a one point, 29-28, lead at the half.

The Rebels will now await their postseason tournament selection. Ole Miss is seeking to play in its first postseason tournament since 2009-10 and will earn their postseason fate on Monday, March 16.