Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Picks up Fourth Straight Win against Arkansas – Pine Bluff

Photo by Joshua McCoy / Ole Miss Athletics

Led by a career-high 28 points from Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) the Ole Miss women’s basketball team (5-3) picked up its fourth consecutive win with a 80-45 win over Arkansas- Pine Bluff (3-5) on Sunday afternoon.  Sessom, who scored 15 of her 28 points out of the break, leads the Ole Miss team with 17.4 points per game and has reached double figures in each of her last nine games dating back to last season.

The Rebels worked together on the glass, with every player recording at least one rebound. Freshman Jonell Williams(Palatka, Fla.) led the team with six rebounds in 12 minutes, while Bretta Hart (Poplarville, Miss.) and A’Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Miss.) each had five boards. As a team, Ole Miss held a 47-36 rebounding edge. Ole Miss also scored 23 points on second chances as a result of 24 offensive rebounds.

Out of the break, Ole Miss out the pedal to the metal and quickly turned its 16 point halftime lead into 31 points behind the outstanding play of Sessom, who in addition to her career-high 28 points, nailed a career-best six triples, joining Torri Lewis(Olive Branch, Miss.) as Rebels to have five or more three-pointers this season. Ole Miss’ defense was on display for the third consecutive game, as the Rebels forced the Lady Lions into 23 turnovers, which turned into 35 points for the Rebels. The Ole Miss bench also played a big role with 28 points on the afternoon.

Ole Miss’ defense has been better as of late and its was on display early against the Lady Lions, in the first half the Rebels forced the visitors into three turnovers in the first four minutes of action and a 10 second violation while jumping out to a 7-2 lead early behind points off UAPB miscues.

Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) had a great first quarter scoring eight points. The freshman came in and nailed two three-pointers, including one late in the first quarter, and helped the Rebels to a 10-point, 21-11, lead at the end of one quarter of action.

Ole Miss leading scorer, Sessom was into double figures by the second quarter courtesy of a triple at the 7:38 mark. That triple sparked a 8-0 run as Ole Miss extended its lead to 16 just three minutes into the second quarter.  The visitors cut back into the lead a little bit midway through the half, but Ole Miss dug in on defense forcing several Arkansas-Pine Bluff turnovers and took a 44-25 lead into halftime.

From The Head Coach
Opening statement…
“It’s a really good win for us. I’m really happy for our basketball team and the growth that we’ve had over the last two or three weeks. We’re really starting to come together and getting better each and every game. A lot of players got to play a lot of minutes for us today, and that’s really good. We got four freshmen in the game as you saw in the fourth quarter and those are very important minutes for them and their growth in our basketball team.”

Where the team is right now…
“I couldn’t be happier where we are as a team right now. We are growing and we will continue to do that, but I’m really happy to get this win and be 5-3.”

On what he saw today on defense…
“We are continuing to grow there and it all starts with our pick up. We got a little out of sorts at times, playing the scoreboard a little bit and that’s not who we are. It’s our energy and enthusiasm, we are too athletic to not be a defensive team so to echo what Shandricka said, I saw that enthusiasm there. It all starts with Erika Sisk, if she’s locked in playing defense our team is too.”

Sophomore Guard Shandricka Sessom
On clicking…
“I just came out to play. I wasn’t thinking about anything except coming to play.”

On the team coming together…
“Coach Insell always talks about brining enthusiasm and energy, and you can see that know when we’re playing.”

Rebel Sidelines
-This was the first meeting between the teams since the 2011-12 season. Ole Miss leads the series, 7-0 and all seven meeting have taken place in Oxford. With the win, Ole Miss moves to 75-6 all-time against teams from the SWAC.

-Ole Miss is now 11 wins from the 800th win in program history. The Rebels will become the sixth SEC program to have at least 800 wins joining Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, and Vanderbilt.

-Jonell Williams saw some early action against. The Lady Lions her first action since the Wagner game. She added seven points and six rebounds in 12 minutes.

-Madinah Muhammad posted 10 points, her third career game in double figures the most by an Ole Miss freshman this season.

-Ole Miss’ 44 first-half points are the most the Rebels have scored this season in the first half, the previous high was 41 points, a mark Ole Miss had hit on two occasions.

-Torri Lewis picked up her third charge. She leads Ole Miss with three charges on the season.

-Sessom posted a career-high 28 points for her second game of 20 or more points this season and her third career game of 20+.

Up Next
Ole Miss will take some time off for exams before heading to Hattiesburg, Miss to take on Southern Miss on Dec. 12. Tipoff is at 4 p.m. from Reed Arena. Ole Miss fans can listen to live audio from Graham Doty and Armintie Herrington on OleMissSports.com or on 105.1 FM in Oxford or 105.2 in Batesville.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics