Ole Miss tops Mizzou, reaching 10 conference wins

OXFORD, Ms. – Thursday night proved to be a true party from SJB Pavilion for senior night, with Ole Miss getting 10. SEC season win in a 72-64 victory over Missouri. For the first time in program history, the Rebels have achieved double-digit conference wins in consecutive seasons.

Celebrating Angel Baker, Jordan Berry, Tyia Singleton and Myah Taylor, Ole Miss (21-7, 10-5 SEC) held off Missouri (17-11, 6-9 SEC) in its final home game of the season. The Rebels hit a 14-game winning streak at home in the 2022-23 season.

As a team, the Rebels were hot from deep tying a season-high nine. Baker, Taylor and Snudda Collins added two each. Baker led the Rebels with 19 points, while adding six assists for his 20th game of the season in double figures. Taylor scored a season-high 17 points, while dishing out five assists. Madison Scott had her 10th double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Shows care, with Ole Miss making 18 of 24 field goals. The Rebels shot the ball well at 46% and went 19-1 this season when shooting over 40% in games.

Right out of the gate, Ole Miss wasted no time getting into shots with three consecutive threes on open possessions. With three in the fourth quarter, the Rebels took an early 10-point lead at 14-4. Mizzou answered quickly, scoring seven straight points to cut the Rebel lead to three at 14-11 at the end of the first quarter.

The Tigers’ run didn’t stop, trailing the Rebels by four points out of a total of 14-0. Ole Miss responded with an 11-0 run of its own to retake the lead. It didn’t stop raining three times for the Rebels with Collins in the first night forcing Mizzou to take a breather and call a timeout. Defensively, Ole Miss kicked into a groove by limiting Missouri to no field goals through three minutes in the second. A strong effort to limit Mizzou on the other end allowed Ole Miss to take a 36-24 lead into the locker room at the half.

Trading back-and-forth threes, Mizzou cut the Rebel lead to single digits as Ole Miss worked to defend its front court. To keep the Tigers at bay, Taylor’s seven points in the third quarter helped Ole Miss maintain its lead. Mizzou refused to go away, pulling within four as the Rebels led 55-51 at the end of three.

A smooth jumper from Baker provided Ole Miss some breathing room, used to close this out. Taylor eclipsed her season-high to give the Rebels a second straight bucket, while shortly after Scott added a layup to push the lead to 10 with five minutes remaining. Mizzou’s three allowed them to get closer to the Rebels, closing the lead to five. Making it to the charity stripe gave Ole Miss a cushion for its 10th SEC win, 72-64.

Ole Miss wraps up the regular season with a trip to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama on Saturday (February 26). Sunday’s matinee game is set to tip at 2 pm CT, streaming on SEC Network+.