The Southeastern Conference woes continue to plague the Ole Miss Lady Rebels (8-13, 1-7 SEC) this season, losing to Arkansas (15-6, 3-5), 77-66, Thursday night.
Ole Miss played the Razorbacks close until Arkansas pushed ahead with six minutes to go in the game, and they never looked back. The Lady Rebels have now dropped two straight after earning their first conference win last week against Florida.
“Unfortunately tonight, we got into some foul trouble, head coach Brett Frank said. “We had some limitations as far as our personnel goes. Arkansas came in with a great game plan and his (Arkansas’ head coach Tom Collen) players compete really hard.”
Junior guard Diara Moore and sophomore forward Tia Faleru led Ole Miss with 14 points apiece, and junior guard Valencia McFarland added 11 points of her own. The 5-foot-4 McFarland also led the team in rebounds with eight.
Early in the first half, the Lady Rebels used a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 15-7 before Arkansas and Sarah Watkins battled back to make it 23-22 with seven minutes to go in the half. Watkins had seven of the team’s first 18 points for the Razorbacks.
Ole Miss held the lead until Arkansas used an 8-0 run to push their lead to 38-33 at the end of the first half. Ole Miss missed seven straight shots during that time.
The two teams stayed even early on in the second half, with Ole Miss taking the lead 47-46 six minutes into the half.
Led by Watkins, the Razorbacks regained the lead and they used a 14-0 run to take over the game, pushing their lead 72-57 with 3:58 to go. The Lady Rebels never got within 10 points for the rest of the game.
Watkins dominated Ole Miss on offense, scoring 28 points to lead the team. Jhasmin Bowen added 14 and Quistelle Williams and Keira Peak each had 12.
“(Watkins) has great size, great length, and ultimately, great skill,” Frank said. “I think one of things that really makes Sarah tough is the fact that she does play really hard to go along with that skill set.”
Lady Rebs face Vandy on road
The Lady Rebels will take a tour through Tennessee, as they travel to Nashville Sunday to face Vanderbilt.
Senior forward Tiffany Clarke leads Vanderbilt (14-7, 4-4) on offense with 16.6 points per game. Junior guard Christina Foggie is second on the team with 15.4 points per game. Clarke also leads the Commodores in rebounds with 8.6 per game.
Ole Miss played Vanderbilt earlier in January and lost 76-57 at home.
Tipoff between the Lady Rebels and Commodores is set for 2 p.m.
