The Matt Insell era got off to a positive start for the Ole Miss women’s basketball program, as the Rebels walked away with a 74-59 exhibition victory over Christian Brothers University Sunday afternoon.
“We got the win,” Insell said. “It was not as pretty as we wanted it to be. We had some areas in which we let down, and that has to get better before we start on Friday, but all in all, I’m glad we got the win, and I’m excited to be opening the season on Friday.”
With scoring being a big question for this season, Ole Miss had five players step up and score in double figures. Leading the pact was senior point guard Valenica McFarland, who had 15 points and dished out four assists. McFarland clocked 31 minutes, and Insell expects McFarland to play almost the whole 40 minutes, if she can stay out of foul trouble.
Helping McFarland was junior forward Tia Faleru, who posted a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Ole Miss is in search of a third leading scorer this year, and Insell expects freshman forward Shequilla Joseph to step up to the plate. She posted 12 points and eight rebounds.
Senior guard Diara Moore added 11 points, and sophomore guard Gracie Frizzell scored 10 points off the bench. Also off the bench, junior forward Monique Jackson racked four points and eight rebounds in just sixteen minutes of action.
As a team, the Rebels struggled from the field, shooting just 36.8 percent. However, the defense held the Lady Bucs to 30.2 percent shooting.
The game remained tight early on until Ole Miss closed the first half on a 19-8 run. Ole Miss led 40-23 at halftime. Christian Brothers made a run and cut the score to 50-44 at the eleven-minute mark in the second half, until the Rebels turned on the gas pedal and never looked back. The Lady Rebels won the rebound battle 54-47, and connected on 18 assists.
As the regular season approaches, Ole Miss will work on playing better defense without fouling. The Rebels fouled 32 times and the Bucs shot 40 free throws. Insell said he wants to keep the opponents’ free throw count around 13-14.
“We’ll get there defensively,” Insell said. “Offensively, it’s promising. We can score. As the competition gets better, you have to be able to stop people. And we’re not where we need to be right now defensively, but that will be the point of emphasis the next couple of days in practice, and we’ll get there.”
The Rebels will kick off their regular season on Friday against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at 5 p.m. Jacksonville State won their first exhibition contest 73-48 over Miles College.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss women’s basketball follow @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Browning Stubbs
