Torri Lewis Nets 10 Triples as Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Blows By New Orleans

Freshman Torri Lewis (Olive Branch, Miss.) put on her best Stephen Curry impression with a Tad Smith Coliseum record 10 three-pointers as the Ole Miss women’s basketball team picked up a 97-59 win over New Orleans on Wednesday night.

Lewis, who had seven of her 10 triples in the first half, led the way with a career-best 36 points for her second career game in double figures and her second game of 20 or more points. Her 36 points was just a triple shy of Peggie Gillom’s record of 39 points at the Tad Smith Coliseum.

Freshman Jonell Williams (Palatka, Fla.) led the way on the glass with 10 rebounds, while Shequila Joseph (London, England) added nine rebounds in the victory.

The Rebels found their shooting touch against the Privateers shooting 40 percent (32-of-80) but nobody had a hotter hand than Lewis who shot a blistering 45.8 percent, including 45 percent from downtown, en route to the Tad Pad record for three-pointers in a single game.  Lewis joins former Ole Miss men’s player Marshall Henderson as the only Rebels to hit double-digit three-pointers at Tad Smith Coliseum. Not only did the team found some offense, their defense was on point as they held the visitors to 59 points.

Ole Miss leading scorer Sessom got into rhythm in the second half and picked up her 11th consecutive game in double figures with 11 points while Joseph and Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) were also in double figures with 10 points each.

Ole Miss jumped out to a 9-2 lead early behind a big triple from Lewis who was in the starting lineup for the first time, and a steal at midcourt from Sessom. Ole Miss went on a 8-0 run over a 50 second span highlighted by two triples from Lewis, which forced the Privateers to call a timeout at the 6:00 minute mark with the Rebels leading 17-4.

A bucket out of the timeout from New Orleans stopped the run, but the Rebels didn’t let up on the offensive side responded with an old fashioned three-point play from Sisk keeping Ole Miss in command midway through the quarter.

Joseph was a rebounding machine in the first half, recording eight rebounds in the first quarter. The Rebels held a 34-16 advantage heading into the second quarter and extended it to its largest margin – 35 points — with 2:40 remaining in the second half. Ole Miss took a 60-28 lead into halftime.

From The Head Coach
On the game…
“We scored more points in the first quarter than we did against Southern Miss. We’re a good shooting basketball team. I’m really proud of how we played tonight. A lot of people got to play. I coached the last five (minutes) in the fourth quarter as hard as I coached the first quarter. Those are valuable minutes (for our young players).”

On Torri Lewis…
“She can really shoot the basketball. I told people that she’s one of the best shooters that I’ve been around. She’s very young and very fragile at times mentally when it comes to when she misses one and gets down. She didn’t do that tonight. She missed a couple early, but she just kept going. The thing I was more proud of was she got back going. She needed to get back going. I say this about all of them, but they’re unbelievable young women. With youth, you can go through it. We had a game like that against Southern Miss, but you bounce back tonight like you’re one of the best shooting teams in the country. It’s ups and downs. We’re not going to quit. We’re going to play the next play. Those type things are going to happen. We’re going to move forward each and every day. Young players grow in wins and losses. We grew on Saturday the same way we grew today and the same way we’ll grow tomorrow.”

On the defense…
“We continue to improve defensively. Tonight was hard. When you get up by forty or fifty, you want to start playing the scoreboard. In the fourth quarter, we did that a little bit. You just have to keep going, but it’s hard when you get up by that much, especially for young players. I’m really proud of them, and that’s why I kept coaching them.”

Rebel Sidelines
-Today’s meeting was the first since the 2004-05 season between the Privateers and Rebels. Ole Miss has an 8-0 series lead and has won each of the five meetings in Oxford.

-Shandricka Sessom tallied her 11th straight game in double figures with 11 points tonight. Sessom ranks third in the SEC in scoring with 18.9 ppg.

-Ole Miss debuted its fourth lineup of the season in tonight’s contest with freshman Torri Lewis getting her first career start.

-Torri Lewis recorded 36 points including 10 triples for her second career game in double figures. Lewis’ 10 triples was just two shy of the NCAA record for three-pointers in a game and her 36 points was three points shy of the Tad Smith Coliseum record for points held by Peggie Gillom.

-Ole Miss’ 34 first quarter points are a season-high for the Rebels, the previous high was 24 against Missouri State and the 60 first half points are also a season-high and also rank No. 6 on the list of most points scored in a half.

Up Next
The Rebels are back in action on Wednesday as they welcome Tulane to Oxford and Tad Smith Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 6 pm and will be broadcast on SECN+ with Will Kollmeyer and Armintie Herrington on the call.

Next Five Games
12/16/15– vs. Tulane                      6 p.m.
12/19/15- vs. McNeese State        12 p.m.
12/29/15– vs. Alabama A&M          6 p.m.
1/3/16– vs. Vanderbilt                     2 p.m.
1/7/16 – at LSU                              7:30 pm

Keep Up With the Rebels
Keep up to date with the Ole Miss women’s basketball team throughout the season on social media. For all Ole Miss women’s basketball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB and on Instagram at Ole MissWBB.   Fans can also follow Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach Matt Insell on Twitter at @minsell.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

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