Caleb HarrisThe No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels fell short of their fourth quarter comeback against the No. 15 Georgia Bulldogs in front of the home crowd 62-52.
The Lady Rebels were down for much of the entire game, with the largest deficit being 13 points. The Rebels struggled from the free throw line, scoring 11 free throws, a stat which could have turned the tide in their favor.
The squad had a rough day of shooting the ball. The Rebels shot 31.3% from the FG, one of the season lows, an abysmal 10% from the three-point line and 50% from the free-throw line, going 11 for 22.
“It was an incredible atmosphere today. Disappointed that we couldn’t come home with the win for the crowd. Another ranked opponent and we’re learning as we go,” Coach Yo said. “This is uncharted territory for us. I thought that Georgia played like they’ve been to the tournament before, like they’ve won a lot of games and finished in the top four last year.”
Senior guard Angel Baker led the team in scoring with 13 points on 6-14 shooting, four rebounds and two steals. Senior center Shakira Austin led the team in rebounds, snagging 11 of them from the glass. Baker also led the team with three assists.
In the first half, the Lady Rebels found themselves down 20-33 to the Bulldogs. The Rebel’s offense was restricted to just 22 points with a shooting percentage of 31%, missing all four attempts from the three point line and going 2-5 from the free throw line.
While both offenses were not getting things going, the biggest difference was turnovers. The Lady Rebels had 10 turnovers in the first half, which is a season high and very uncharacteristic for this basketball squad.
In the second quarter, momentum seemed to be on the Rebels side as Mimi Reed got a steal that turned into fast break points scored by Baker to bring the game closer to 10-21 at the 9:03 mark.
Georgia opened up the fourth quarter with a bad pass that led to a scoring possession for the Lady Rebels with a layup by McGee to bring the margin down to 11.
After back and forth shooting, the Rebels cut the deficit to six points at 56-50 with 3:36 left in the quarter. After an empty possession by the Rebels, Georgia pushed their lead to eight. The lead was too much to overcome as the Rebels dropped their second straight against a top 15 opponent.
The Rebels face off against their 10th straight SEC opponent when they head to Missouri on Feb. 3. Ole Miss and the Tigers will tip off at 6 p.m. on SEC Network.
