The week off may have done more harm than good to No. 16 Ole Miss women’s basketball.
The Rebels played most Sunday morning’s game against Georgia like their basket was covered. They shot just XX percent in the game, including just 24 percent in the first half, in an 82-59 loss to Georgia.
The shots weren’t bad. Ole Miss got good looks. The ball just refused to go into the basket. Normal shots players like Cotie McMahon normally make, instead banked off the rim.
McMahon taking an open jump shot from mid-range is a money shot. It almost always goes in, but it didn’t Sunday. McMahon struggled the most to find her form. The senior averaging 19.2 points per game was held to just nine and was 1-for-13 from the field entering the fourth quarter.
ICYMI: Ole Miss coach defends Oxford after Stephen A. Smith’s criticism
Christeen Iwuala was the only Rebel to not struggle mightily, scoring 13 points. But even some her basic shots would bounce off the rim.
Georgia, meanwhile, was red-hot.
The Bulldogs shot 54.7 percent from the field and were led by Dani Carnegie. She scored 32 points and was 11-for-17 from the field and 5-for-8 on three-pointers. As a team, the Bulldogs made 8-16 of their three-point attempts.
The juxtaposition of both teams’ scoring performances is jarring with how drastic the divide is. That tells the whole story of the game.
Ole Miss had more rebounds than Georgia (16-3, 2-3) and had an eye-popping 18 offensive rebounds. The Rebels had fewer turnovers, scored more second-chance points and had more points off the bench than Georgia.
That’s a pretty good recipe for a win, yet when you shoot 30 percent from the field and the opponent shoots 54.7 percent, none of the other stuff matters.
This will be a tough loss to stomach, but shooting performances like the Rebels had Sunday are rare. Its even rarer to have that come against a team shooting like the Bulldogs were.
Ole Miss Top Performers
- Points: Christeen Iwuala, 13
- Rebounds: Cotie McMahon, 11
- Assists: Cotie McMahon, 5
- Steals: Cotie McMahon/Latasha Lattimore, 1
- Blocks: Three players with 1 block.
Next Up
Ole Miss (16-4, 3-2 SEC) will look to bounce back with another road game, this time to Columbia to face Missouri (13-7, 1-4 SEC). The Tigers are facing Florida in their Sunday matchup. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday on SECN+.
