Lady Rebels Fall on Road to Texas A&M

In a game that featured six ties and eight lead changes, the Ole Miss women’s basketball team gave the No. 11/12 Texas A&M Aggies all they could handle but dropped a 58-49 road contest in Reed Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The Rebels had three in double figures led by 15 from Erika Sisk of Oxford while Tia Faleru of Ozark, Alabama, and Shequila Joseph of London, England, added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Faleru led the way with 101 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the year.

The second half was as close as any game the Rebels have been in this season, and featured four ties and with neither team taking more than a four-point lead until late in the second stanza. With the game tied at 41, Texas A&M rattled off seven unanswered points to take a 48-41 lead – the largest of either team to that point with 8:27 left in the game.

With the Aggies leading 54-46 with 3:30 left in the half, Ole Miss scored a bucket to cut into the lead but couldn’t stop Courtney Williams who had 21 points, 14 in the second half, as the Aggies picked up the win to remain perfect at home.

Ole Miss had a great start to the game. Sisk scored the Rebels first four points and was able to easily slice through the Aggie defense early. Ole Miss forced the home team into four early turnovers, capitalizing to the tune of six early points while taking a 14-9 lead at the 12:34 mark of the first half.

Sisk set the tone for the Rebels, scoring 10 first half points and setting up the defense on the other end. Ole Miss held 16-10 advantage in the paint in the first stanza and a scored 11 points on Texas A&M miscues. Defense, a characteristic of any Matt Insell coached team, was on display in the first half as Ole Miss forced the Aggies into 10 first half turnovers, a team that only averages 15.0 turnovers per game.

With Ole Miss holding a 19-16 lead, the home team used a 4-0 spurt to take its first lead of the game, 20-19 at the 5:04 mark but Sisk used her wheels and went coast-to-coast for a layup to keep give the lead back to the visitors before Joseph got hot. The sophomore nailed the first triple for Ole Miss at the 5:20 mark and went on to score the next eight points for the Rebels.

The visitors had a 29-23 lead with 1:37 left in the half before four unanswered buckets from Texas A&M cut the Rebel lead to 29-27 at the half. Sisk and Joseph lead the way with 10 first half points while Faleru had a team-best six rebounds.

Ole Miss will head home to take on instate rival, No. 15/18 Mississippi State on Thursday. The game will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Carolyn Peck on the call. Tipoff is at 8 pm CT.

For ticket information, go to OleMissTix.com or call the Ole Miss Ticket Office at 1-888-REB-TKTS (732-8587).

Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics