Despite being outscored in three of the four quarters in their game against Georgia, Ole Miss fought, and managed to find a way to come out on top with a 69-62 win Sunday afternoon.
It was a rough first half for the Rebels, and things were not looking up as they went into halftime down 34-26.
“We talked a lot about toughness at halftime, and then I saw the basketball team that we’ve seen the majority of this year come out in the third quarter and win that game,” head coach Matt Insell said. “That’s the first time I’ve seen them in about three weeks.”
A struggling group had its backs against the wall in the halftime locker room. The Rebels had lost four in a row, and Insell knew how badly his team needed this win.
“When you start getting beat, you lose your confidence,” said Insell. “I didn’t care how we won today, we just needed a win.”
The Georgia Bulldogs came out ready to fight, holding a lead over the Lady Rebels for the first half of the game.
“It was a grind, and I knew it was going to be,” said Insell. “Georgia is a very physical, great team, and they’re in the same boat we’re in where they have good days and bad days.”
Once the Rebels gained the lead over the Bulldogs in the third quarter, they never looked back and ultimately outscored Georgia 25-7 in that quarter, allowing them to take control of the game.
One of the four players who scored double digits, Shelby Gibson, had 12 points and overcame a “freshman wall,” Insell said.
“Shelby came out like she’s done all year where she just plays extremely hard,” Insell said. “She pushed through her wall and coming out here today, she kept us in the game.”
Madinah Muhammad, Shandricka Sessom and Alissa Alston also all hit double digits in points, Muhammad leading with 19 total points. All their hard work and a win under their belt calls for week of rest according to Insell.
“We needed this win before having time off,” Insell said. “We’re going to use a couple days this week to fix a couple flaws that are normally hard to fix when we would only have two days to prepare for the next team.”
The Rebels have more than a week to prepare for their game against Florida. The team will travel to Gainesville to play the Gators on next Monday with the hopes of eventually qualifying for post-season play.
“There are a bunch of teams in that three and four-win area so we have to turn this around,” Insell said. “If we can win these next few games, things will be looking up.”
