3 Seniors Help Lead Lady Rebels to Win over Southern

Ole Miss knocked off Southern 91-68 Thursday night as the Rebels (3-0) were led by seniors Tia Faleru, Danielle McCray and Amber Singletary. Four players finished in double figures for Ole Miss.
Faleru led all players with a season-high 29 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for the 22nd double-double of her career. She helped lead the Rebels out rebound Southern 59-36.
“When you have a Faleru in there, you are going to beat people on the boards. I don’t know if I have ever coached one as good as her on the boards,” head coach Matt Insell said. “She has a knack for the basketball.”
McCray finished with a career-high 18 points and season-high 9 rebounds. With her big night, McCray has now scored over 500 points in her career.
Ole Miss dealt with foul trouble throughout the game, as freshman guard A’Queen Hayes fouled out in eight minutes of action and Toree Thompson picked up her fourth personal foul before the first media timeout in the second half. That allowed senior guard Amber Singletary to step in and play a season-high 19 minutes.
“She was ready to go. She hasn’t played the point at all in practice,” Insell said. “She came in and played like a senior is supposed to play. She gave us great work at the point and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The Rebels took a 39-33 lead into halftime. Southern made it interesting early in the second half cutting the Ole Miss lead to one, 51-50 with 14:46 left. Ole Miss was able to run away with it late. The Rebels led the entire game. The Rebels shot 41 percent (31-75) from the floor and finished with 22 turnovers. Southern finished the night shooting 32 percent (21-66) from the field and had 21 turnovers.
Ole Miss hosts Middle Tennessee State University Sunday. The Rebels and Blue Raiders tipoff at 3 p.m. It will be a family affair of sorts. The head coach of MTSU is Rick Insell, the father of Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell.
Graham Doty is a HottyToddy.com sports contributor and can be reached at grahamdoty@gmail.com.