OXFORD — Madinah Muhammad had a team-best 21 points, while Shandricka Sessom celebrated her birthday in style with 14 points and team-best 11 rebounds Thursday night to lead the Ole Miss women’s basketball team to a 67-62 victory against Tennessee at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
The win helped Ole Miss (13-4, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) snap a 28-game losing streak to Tennessee (10-6, 2-2), and gave the Rebels their 12th-consecutive win on its home floor this season — the longest home winning streak in the last decade.
“I told them after the game, it’s about time to start our own streak,” Ole Miss coach Matt Insell said. “They had beaten us 28 times in a row — it’s time for us to do something. We have a good team. It’s a huge win. Huge in recruiting. It was a complete team game. We got down there big in the third quarter, but our kids kept fighting. We kept telling them in huddles, ‘We’re fine. Just keep playing, and they’re going to give you a chance to win it.’ I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Neither team took more than a two-possession lead in the fourth quarter. Shequila Joseph nailed two free throws to give Ole Miss its first lead since the 6-minute, 2-second mark of the first quarter. From that point, the teams matched each other bucket for bucket until the final minute, when Ole Miss went 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to seal the deal.
Ole Miss rallied from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter. The Rebels pulled ahead for good when Erika Sisk’s two free throws broke a 56-all tie with 4:10 left.
The Rebels led 63-60 when Tennessee’s Diamond DeShields and Alexa Middleton missed potential game-tying 3-pointers with less than 30 seconds remaining. Tennessee was 1 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Muhammad and Shandricka Sessom each hit two free throws in the final 16 seconds to clinch the victory.
Jaime Nared scored a career-high 23 points for Tennessee. DeShields had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Ole Miss’ last victory against Tennessee was a 78-72 decision on Feb. 4, 1996.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.