COLUMBIA, SC – (Courtesy of Ole Miss Media Relations) The Rebels once again resisted the country’s fifth team for a while on Thursday afternoon, but it didn’t take long for the Gamecocks to move away forever, as Ole Miss fell to South Carolina, 68-43, on Colonial Life Arena.
The rebels (9-10, 3-10 SEC) threw 26 percent off the ground as Shakira Austin scored 22 points to lead the way. She surpassed 1,000 career points and 700 career rebounds, making her the only active player in the SEC to have 1,000 career points, 700 career rebounds and 150 career blocks. Valerie Nesbitt added seven points while Donnetta Johnson led Ole Miss with eight rebounds. South Carolina won the majority of the dispute in painting (34-20) and glass (+15).
They are the most physical team we play. We knew that, ”said head coach Ole Miss. Yolett McPhee-McCuin. “This was the game that worried me the most. I knew this was a ‘you are tough enough’ game. We had many equally talented games. It was not about strategy. It was about pure will. We are very young and we do not take advantage of this opportunity. “
After Zia Cooke placed the Gamecocks on the board first, the Rebels responded with a 6-0 run courtesy of Austin and Johnson. Both teams had their way in the paint early on, while South Carolina took advantage of several counterattacks to go on a 9-0 run and lead 17-10 with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter. Cooke scored 12 of those points by throwing 5 of 7 off the ground. Ole Miss reduced her deficit to three after the media timeout, but South Carolina managed to reach the free throw line and end the quarter with 22-16.
The rebels would be cold by 3:33 and would allow the Gamecocks to rise at nine in the middle of the second half. Austin overcame the scoring drought with two free throws after dropping 11 points. Cooke increased his team’s lead to 13 with just over a minute to go. The Gamecocks forced Ole Miss to shoot 0 out of 12 from the field to end the first half with a 33-20 lead at halftime.
An Austin tray and a three-point basket Tiya Douglas reduced the deficit to 10 points just over two minutes in the third quarter, but the Gamecocks continued in a 7-0 run and opened their biggest advantage of the game at 45-27. With 3:53 left in the room, South Carolina was shooting 56 percent off the ground, while Ole Miss continued to be hindered in the ring. Johnson erupted a 0 out of 9 field goal drought with a medium range shot with less than three to play, but South Carolina still maintained a wide margin of advantage by leading 49-31 in the final 10 minutes. Austin broke 1,000 career points in the middle of the fourth period with a hard-fought shot, but the Gamecocks kept going the rest of the way for another SEC victory.
Ole Miss will complete the 2020-2021 regular season in Lexington when he tries to get a season sweep of the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday, February 28. The complaint is scheduled for 11 am CT and can be viewed on the SEC Network.