A collective effort on all sides of the ball lifted Ole Miss to hold off a strong Arkansas charge for a 70-62 victory from the SJB Pavilion Tuesday night. Ole Miss earned its ninth SEC win of the year, tying the most in a single season in the past 20 campaigns.
From offense to defense, Ole Miss (21-6, 9-5 SEC), was able to control one of the nation’s best three-point shooting teams in Arkansas (16-11, 6-8 SEC), limiting the Hogs to 30 percent from deep.
There’s a reason why Angel Baker is a huge threat off the bench, as the senior led Ole Miss with 17 points with 10 of her 11 double-digit outings having come as a reserve. Off the glass, the Rebels love to clean up, as Austin paced all with a season-high 16 rebounds. She added 11 points for her ninth double-double of the year.
Snudda Collins found her mojo, with three triples for a total of nine points. The forward also notched two blocks to add to a team total of nine, for its most in SEC play. Getting in on the block party was Madison Scott, tying a season-high four with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Coming in big down the stretch was Lashonda Monk, scoring the final eight points for Ole Miss en route to a 16-point night.
Scott got the Rebels on the board first, before Ole Miss entered a drought until a Collins triple kicked off a 9-0 burst. Arkansas rebounded to meet the Rebels at 13 all. Collins remained hot from three for her second of the night, along with Scott adding a jumper to regain control.
The Rebels shared the ball at an efficient pace with nine assists off their first 13 field goals, as Ole Miss maintained its lead despite hitting a five-minute scoring lull. Collins third triple reignited the Rebels to ensure a halftime lead up 33-25.
Just like the start of the first, Scott began the third with a bucket out of the gate, and Ole Miss went up by as many as 13. The three’s started to fall in for the Razorbacks, right as Baker came alive with nine points in the quarter. Back-to-back triples cut the Ole Miss lead to seven before Baker added another bucket to end the quarter up 52-43.
This lead wasn’t assured, as Arkansas remained strong and cut its deficit to 62-59 with under four minutes remaining. Cool, calm, and collected, Monk knocked down two straight free throws, followed by a layup to extend the lead to six. Her counterparts backed her up keeping Arkansas scoreless for more than two minutes. From then on it was Monk remaining focused at the line, hitting four free throws in the final minute to secure the Ole Miss win, 70-62.
Ole Miss heads back on the road for their final away game of the SEC season with a Thursday night tilt at Auburn. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network +.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
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