Forward Bretta Hart attempts to shield the ball against Tennessee in the game Thursday. PHOTO BY: PAYTON TEFFNER
The Ole Miss women’s basketball team came into the matchup against Tennessee with an upset on their minds, but came out empty-handed as the Volunteers used a hot start and never looked back en route to a 69-49 win over the Rebels.
From the start of the game, it looked like the Rebels would be able to stick with the Vols, but Tennessee quickly made sure that would not continue.
“Not a very good effort by our basketball team tonight,” Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell said. “We didn’t give a good effort and to beat a good team like a Tennessee, your effort and intensity have to be right.”
Despite the lack of effort on part of the Rebels, both teams got off to a good start in the first nine minutes as they both shot over 45 percent from the field.
Performance began to decrease shortly after. Ole Miss went stone cold as they missed 17 of their last 18 shots to end the first half. Tennessee then piled it on as they went on a 22-5 run over the next nine minutes to go up 34-12.
Tennessee shot 50 percent from the field in the first half while Ole Miss shot 23 percent. The Rebels also turned the ball over 12 times.
After their hot start, Ole Miss ran out of steam, missing 17 of their last 18 shots en route to a 34-17 deficit at halftime. Senior Tia Faleru, Ole Miss’ leading scorer, was held scoreless in the first half and sophomore Erika Sisk was held to five points.
“How you come out against Tennessee and have no energy just blows my mind, blows my mind as a coach,” Insell said. “We come out and didn’t do that and I spend three timeouts in the first half to try and get it there but it wasn’t coming.”
The Volunteers came into the game only surrendering just less than 55 points per contest and only allowing 37 percent shooting from the field. Their stifling defense held Ole Miss to 17 points in the first half. It was their lowest point total of the season in the first half and the stingy defense held the Rebels to 49 points total tied for their second lowest output of the season.
Similar to the game against South Carolina, Tennessee asserted their will down low in the second half. Senior center Isabelle Harrison, the Volunteers’ leading scorer totaled 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Junior forward Bashaara Graves added 17 points on 7-7 shooting.
As a team, the Volunteers had 48 points in the paint for the game.
The only bright spot for the Rebels was junior Gracie Frizzell as she scored nine points on an efficient 3-of- 5 shooting including 3-of-3 from three-point land.
“We’ve had better games obviously, but we have got to start practicing with higher intensity and clearly it’s a reflection on how we play” Frizzell said.
In a surprising stat line, Faleru was held scoreless in the second half and failed to score for the first time since her freshman year, a streak that lasted 99 games. She only played 17 minutes.
“Energy, no energy and you don’t play in this program,” Insell said of Faleru’s performance. “She’s a great player and a player that we need so hopefully she bounces back.”
Matt Insell and the Rebels will need to bounce back quick as they take on Missouri at 2 p.m. Sunday in Columbia.
