OXFORD — Tia Faleru had a team-high 16 points, and Danielle McCray had 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for her first double-double of the season Monday night to lead the Ole Miss women’s basketball team to a 67-59 victory against No. 13 Kentucky at Tad Smith Coliseum.
The victory was the first for Ole Miss (16-11, 6-8 Southeastern Conference) against a top-15 team since 2009-10. It also marked the first time Ole Miss has defeated two ranked teams in the same season since the 2009-10 campaign.
Making the victory even sweeter was the fact that Ole Miss second-year head coach Matt Insell was a former assistant coach to Matthew Mitchell at Kentucky.
“What a great win for our program in year two of a process that we started a year ago,” Insell said. “This basketball team continues to develop each and every day. I asked them to take a chance. We were 5-8 (in SEC play), and we know we have to get 8-8 to have a chance to be in the NCAA tournament.
“I said take a chance and have no regrets, and you can’t say enough about how hard our girls played. They put everything they had into preparation for this game and then they put it out there on the court. It was magical. It was a great win for our program and a great win for our process. To beat a team like Kentucky, a program like that, it’s huge.”
Faleru added eight rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Faleru and McCray helped the Rebels win the rebounding battle, 49-46.
Junior guard Gracie Frizzell, who was making her fourth start of the season, was 5 of 9 from 3-point range for 15 points, while sophomore guard Erika Sisk had 10 points and eight assists. Freshman forward Kelsey Briggs added seven points and five rebounds off the bench.
Ole Miss limited Kentucky (19-8, 8-6) to its second-lowest scoring output of the season and 32.3 percent shooting, its third-lowest mark of the season. The Rebels also forced 15 turnovers, many in key spots, as they held the Wildcats to 3-for-11 shooting and forced four turnovers in the final eight minutes.
Kentucky took a 41-39 lead before Ole Miss answered with an 11-4 run, sparked by a corner 3-pointer by freshman A’Queen Hayes as the shot clock expired to put the Rebels up 42-41 with 12 minutes, 23 seconds left. Kentucky tied it at 50 going into the under-eight media timeout, but Ole Miss didn’t relinquish the lead.
Leading 55-53 with 4:20 left, Ole Miss made three-straight stops on the defensive end, while Faleru and McCray scored big baskets on the offensive end to give the Rebels a 59-53 left with 2:21 left. It remained a two-possession game the rest of the way.
“With eight minutes to go in the game, I told them we had to make 50-50 plays,” Insell said. “The only way we’re winning the game is if we make 50-50 plays. Every loose ball, we had to get. Out of the last 10 possessions of the game, we got eight stops. We worked a lot on defense in the summer, fall and this year, and it’s starting show. I was really proud of our defensive effort.”
In a first half that featured six ties and 10 lead changes, Ole Miss used a late 11-3 run, to take a 26-23 lead with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left. Kentucky answered with a 6-0 run before Frizzell hit a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 29 at halftime. It was her fourth 3-pointer of the half, giving her a game-high 12 points.
“You win games by owning momentum in the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half,” Insell said. “Her 3-pointer there got us the momentum going into the second half. We wouldn’t have won the game with that shot.”
Ole Miss will play host to LSU at 6 p.m. Thursday for Senior Night at Tad Smith Coliseum. It will take on Mississippi State at 1 p.m. Sunday (Fox Sports South) in Starkville.
“We have won two in a row and we have a chance down the stretch,” Insell said. “8-8 is the mark we have to get to. We have said that from day one, 8-8 or better. We have two left. We control our own destiny down the stretch. You go 8-8, and you put yourself back in the NCAA tournament picture.”
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