Mississippi forward Tia Faleru prepares to shoot the ball during an game last season. (File Photo)
In the postgame press conference against South Carolina, Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach Matt Insell talked about the team’s chances to get on the bubble and have an opportunity at the NCAA tournament.
Those prospects are dwindling as we speak. Ole Miss dropped the contest 74-55 to then top-ranked South Carolina. The Rebs showed a lot of heart in the first half, but the second half was a different story.
“We know what it takes to get on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. We know it takes eight wins in this league to get on the bubble,” Insell said. “That means we have got to win some road games, and we got to pull an upset at home. We’ve got great chances. We have a Tennessee team who is top ten in the country. We have Kentucky that is top 10 in the country, and we’ve got LSU, in which by the time they back get in here is going to be top 15, top 20 in the country.”
The Rebels (14-9, 4-6 SEC) have a chance to pull that upset at home as they take on sixth ranked Tennessee (20-3, 10-0 SEC) at 6 p.m. CT.
The Rebels have lost five in a row, but on that losing streak, they have lost to three nationally-ranked teams and an LSU team that has been on the rise lately. Currently they are 14-9 (8-3 SEC) and are the last four in according to ESPN’s women bracketology.
The Rebels are currently not in ESPN’s bracketology.
Losing to Vanderbilt last Thursday was costly, but they have a prime opportunity tonight.
The Volunteers are averaging 72.5 points per game and are holding opponents to 54 points per game and allowing only 37 percent shooting from the floor. They are led by a balanced attack in which they have five players averaging over nine points per game. Leading the Volunteers in scoring is senior center Isabelle Harrison with 12.7 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game, while senior guard Ariel Massengale and senior forward Cierra Burdick are scoring 10.5 and 10.2 points per game respectively.
Ole Miss counters with senior double-double machine Tia Faleru, who averages 15 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Erika Sisk and senior forward Danielle McCray follow with 9.2 points per game and 7.0 points per game respectively.
The Rebels played close games against the last three nationally ranked teams they have faced, but they faltered down the stretch, including a last second shot by then 18th ranked Mississippi State.
Ole Miss did pull off an upset against then 16th ranked Georgia in mid-January, so the Rebels are capable of some magic in the Tad Pad.
Faleru, as she has for the whole season, will have to have a big game for Ole Miss. She is the only big post player they have and will have to control the boards and score the ball down low when she gets the chance.
The duo of guards Erika Sisk and A’Queen Hayes have come on strong during the stretch run of SEC play. To have a shot at the upset, Hayes and Sisk will need to make plays off the bounce and create plays, whether it’s making shots or getting to the free-throw line. It’s imperative that these two take care of the ball because Tennessee has a knack of forcing turnovers, averaging 18.3 turnovers forced per game.
Another way of pulling an upset is the presence of an outside shotmaker. Junior guard Gracie Frizzel is that player. At times, this offense struggles when they lack a consistent three-point threat to stretch the defense.
Matt Insell and his Rebels have a great shot at completing the upset. They have done it once already, and they will need contributions from everyone but more importantly from those four.
If Ole Miss women’s basketball wants a shot at eight wins in the SEC, it all starts with an upset of Tennessee.
