Missouri women’s basketball hoped to put an end to their eight-game losing skid in their Feb. 26 matchup with the Ole Miss Rebels. Unfortunately, the Tigers could not pull off the win in a 66-45 loss.

In the first quarter, neither squad could establish a comfortable lead. The Rebels only managed to shoot 33% from the floor while the Tigers were even worse, shooting 30.8%. While the offenses struggled, the defense picked up the slack, limiting open shots in the process. The Rebels’ 13-7 rebounding advantage gave them the edge they needed to take a 13-10 lead at the end of the opening period. 

The second frame was one to forget for the Tigers, as the season-long turnover woes came back to haunt them. While limited to just two turnovers in the first quarter, they gave up the ball eight times in the second period. These turnovers opened the door for a 10-0 Ole Miss run. This second-quarter spurt propelled the Rebels to a 26-17 advantage heading into the locker room.

Neither team was overly successful in any category but the Rebels edged out Missouri in almost every statistic. They had more points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks while committing fewer turnovers. This all occurred while both teams shot under 35% for the quarter. 

The Tigers came out of the half struggling to find answers offensively and defensively. The Rebels raced out to a 40-22 lead by the 4:47 mark in the third quarter. Then the Tigers finally found their footing, storming back within range, thanks to an 11-0 run facilitated by senior Mama Dembele. She forced turnovers while on defense and found her open teammates for the buckets on offense. As a result, this rally narrowed the Ole Miss lead to just seven points. However, that would be as close as the Tigers would come, as Ole Miss would make the score 44-33 by the end of the third quarter.

Missouri was unable to salvage any of their momentum from the previous quarter as Ole Miss completely dismantled the Tigers in every facet of the game. The Rebels put the game on ice with a 20-4 run and ultimately coasted to the final score of 66-45.

Three Tigers managed to reach double digits in points despite the off-night. Senior Mama Dembele led the way with 11 points. She was followed closely behind by freshman Grace Slaughter and sophomore Ashton Judd with 10 points apiece. Judd also led the Tigers with six rebounds while Dembele topped the leaderboards with three assists and four steals. 

Most importantly though, Missouri was held to 0 3-pointers out of 7 attempted. The Tigers have made at least two 3-pointers in every contest up to this point in the season while sinking five threes in 20 separate games.

“They [Ole Miss] are one of the top teams in the country defensively,” coach Robin Pingeton said. “You don’t get a lot of good looks against a team like this.”

Edited by Grace Ainger | gainger@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com 

Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com