Ole Miss Stays Undefeated At Home, Rolls Over Austin Peay

OXFORD, Miss. (Ole Miss) – The Ole Miss women’s basketball team (10-2) moved to 9-0 at The Pavilion at Ole Miss with a 66-38 win over Austin Peay on Tuesday night. The win was the third straight for the Rebels who moved to 10-2 on the season with the victory.

For the second consecutive game Chrishae Rowe (Riverside, Calif.) led the Ole Miss offense with 20 points  – her second consecutive game in double figures and her first 20-point outing of the year – to go along with seven rebounds. Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) was also in double figures with 15 points, while Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) led the way on the glass with eight rebounds and 10 points. Taylor Manuel (St. Louis, Mo.) added 11 points and seven boards as well for her second game in double figures in the last three outings.

Austin Peay came out of the locker room fired up after the halftime break and opened up the quarter with a 10-4 run before Ole Miss closed the quarter with a 13-2 run of their own spearheaded by crucial rebounds and a bucket from Manuel as Ole Miss extended its lead to 25 points late in third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw Ole Miss’ lead balloon to 30 points – the largest of the game – at the 7:28 mark as the home team cruised to its 10th win od the season, equaling its entire win total from a year ago.

The Rebels saw their lead begin to dwindle in the second quarter as the visitors opened the quarter with four unanswered points to cut Ole Miss’ 10-point lead to six with just three minutes off the game clock, while Ole Miss couldn’t buy a bucket. The Rebels struggled from the field, but Rowe was a nice spark as she tallied six second-quarter points to swing the momentum towards the home squad, as Ole Miss took a 32-15 lead at the break.

After a sluggish start to the game, which saw Ole Miss fall behind 2-0 early, the home team settled into a good rhythm spearheaded by four quick points for hometown girl Sisk as Ole Miss jumped ahead, 13-4 at the 3:38 mark of the first quarter.  Ole Miss got going on the defensive end and held the Governors without a bucket for 5:12 midway through the quarter as they used a 12-2 run to pull ahead by 10 points at the end of the quarter.

Ole Miss held Austin Peay to just 12.5 percent (3-of-24) shooting in the first quarter.

From The Head Coach
On the win…
“It was a hard game. We didn’t play particularly well. We didn’t play with a lot of energy. Luckily Erika Sisk, Shandricka Sessom, Taylor Manuel, came in there and got us going. Chrishae Rowe came in there did a good job. Real proud of Kate Rodgers, she did well. It was just one of those games where we weren’t in it from the start. That was a fear of mine. But we clicked in there and did a good job. I’m proud of the way we got the 10th win, I can tell you that. Even when you play bad, it’s always good to win. We didn’t play very sharp, but we found a way to win.”

On the break…
“We’ll have five days off. They all need it. I need it. The staff needs it. We all need it. We’ll have five days off then we’ll get back together. This is a good group. We had a great first half of the season. We’re 10-2 and I’m real happy.”

Rebel Sidelines
-Ole Miss moves to 5-0 all-time against Austin Peay with today’s win. Ole Miss is 4-0 in games played in Oxford and moves to 38-5 against teams from the Ohio Valley.

-The Governors are coached by Ole Miss graduate and men’s basketball player, Dave Midlick. Midlick was a three-year letter winner under Ed Murphy from 1988-1991.

-Ole Miss moves to 9-0 at home with today’s win.

-Today’s game was the second annual Tacky Sweater game at The Pavilion.

-Erika Sisk was in double figures by with 13 points at the end of the second quarter en route to 16 points.

-For the seventh time this season, Ole Miss held an opponent to two or more quarters in single digits

-Bretta Hart started the second half in place of Shequila Joseph

-Ole Miss’ win was the 10th of the season, equaling the entire win total from a season ago.

Up Next
Ole Miss will break for the holidays before closing out the non-conference schedule against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 28. Game time is set for 6 pm at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.

Next Five Games
Dec. 28 – vs. Mississippi Valley State     6 PM
Jan. 1 – vs. Arkansas                                           4 PM
Jan. 5 – at Alabama                                             7 PM
Jan. 8 – at Auburn                                                 3 PM
Jan. 12- vs. Tennessee                                      6 PM