Missouri sought a statement win against a ranked Ole Miss squad that entered the contest following a loss to Georgia on Sunday. However, the No. 18 Rebels would not lose twice in a row, defeating the Tigers 82-61 on Thursday at Mizzou Arena.
“That’s a very motivated basketball team coming off a loss,” Missouri coach Kellie Harper said. “We knew we had a huge challenge in front of us. I wish we had been better in a few areas, but I think the win for us is we had growth from our last game.”
Missouri head coach Kellie Harper pleads with a referee during the third quarter against Ole Miss on Thursday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. The Tigers fell 82-61 to the Rebels and are now 1-6 in SEC play.
With the game tied 21-21 and 4:27 left in the second, Ole Miss went on a 6-0 run to surge ahead. That momentum carried forward, and the Tigers (13-9, 1-6 Southeastern Conference) never reclaimed the lead after playing competitively for much of the first half.
Leveling the score at 21 apiece was redshirt senior guard Jayla Smith. She buried a 3-pointer as a burst of applause from the arena followed.
Before tying it up, the Tigers had been trading the lead with the Rebels (17-4, 4-2). They entered the frame down by just one point, but that deficit soon grew to five. Mizzou fought back, taking an 18-17 lead with 6:06 on the clock. Ole Miss made two buckets before Smith’s game-tying triple.
Her 3-pointer was the first successful triple by either team. Mizzou was 0-for-6 before her make. After an entire half of play, the Rebels still hadn’t banked a 3-pointer, shooting 0 for 9.
Missouri headed into the half down 29-23, and its 23 points were the lowest in a half of basketball all season. They missed 10 triples and notched a field goal percentage of 28.1.
Even though the Tigers couldn’t reclaim the lead, they went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 29 points with 7:43 remaining in the third. The Rebels responded, going up by as many as 10 points three times and ending the period with a 49-39 advantage.
Missouri forward Jordana Reisma (10) moves across the court as Ole Miss forward Christeen Iwuala (12) attempts to guard her Thursday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Reisma finished the game with eight points, four rebounds and two assists, shooting 4-for-7 from the field, as the Tigers struggled against the 18th-ranked Rebels, falling 82-61.
In the fourth, the lead for the Rebels continued to grow, with Ole Miss fixing its shooting woes. In the first period, the Rebels shot 27.8% from the field, and that number skyrocketed to 91.7% in the fourth.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, featuring eight lead changes. Missouri’s offense was headlined by junior guard Grace Slaughter, senior forward Jordana Reisma and senior guard Saniah Tyler, with each player tallying four points in the frame.
The involvement of Slaughter and Reisma was no surprise, as they are typically among Mizzou’s best performers. Tyler’s role was pleasantly surprising, and she finished the game with nine points.
“I’ve been trying to stay ready,” Tyler said. “You don’t know when your number is (going to be) called, so you’ve got to rely on each other and be ready to go.”
She hit a layup for an 8-7 MU lead and made two free throws for a 12-10 lead.
As a team, the Tigers shot 35.7% from the field in the first, but, nevertheless, the Rebels led 13-12. Ole Miss senior Cotie McMahon hit a layup with 28 seconds remaining, solidifying her game-high 33 points.
Missouri guard Saniah Tyler (2) attempts a layup while Ole Miss guard Tianna Thompson (35) defends on Thursday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
For Missouri, Slaughter finished with a team-high 21 points.
The Tigers have now dropped six out of seven games in SEC play. They will look for redemption against Texas A&M at 5 p.m. Sunday at Mizzou Arena.
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