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Ole Miss' latest loss to No. 6 South Carolina yet another stern reminder of reality

11by:Jake Thompson•about 18 hours•

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Ole Miss forward Starr Jacobs blocks a shot attempt of South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson (5). Mandatory credit: Ole Miss athletics

The Ole Miss women’s basketball team wants to believe it is on the level of those upper echelon teams in the Southeastern Conference and the country.

Belief is good but hard to maintain when reality provides the hard truth.

This is the case for the Rebels after a 16-point loss to No. 6 South Carolina inside the SJB Pavilion on Thursday. The Gamecocks beat Ole Miss 75-59 but the second half made the game feel as if it was not that close.

A slow start by the Rebels (18-9, 9-6 SEC) saw them rally from down 10 points in the first half to take a four-point lead at one point in the second quarter. Believe was starting to turn into results.

But then it was over. After The Rebels took a 23-19 lead the Gamecocks went on to outscore them 56-36 the final 28 minutes.

This is just another example of how Ole Miss is still behind in the arms race that is women’s basketball in the SEC. The team plays hard, there is no questioning this, but that can only take you so far when talent on one end of the floor is so over-matched.

Offense was the deciding factor as the Rebels defense once again did its part to keep the game close. One example of this is the layup disparity. Ole Miss missed 16 (11-27) while the Gamecocks miss 11 (17-28).

Those 32 points left on the table by the Rebels would have been more than enough to make it a game, or possibly give them the chance at the win. Law of averages say that Ole Miss would not make every layup but the rate of how many were just point-blank under the basket misses is alarming, but not surprising.

The high-percentage shot misses have been an issue over the past few seasons.

Freshman Sira Thienou led the Rebels with 15 points and Christeen Iwuala scored 10 points to finish as the only two in double figures. Kennedy Todd-Williams scored nine points while KK Deans and Kharyssa Richardson finished with eight points each.

In what could be her final game inside the Pavilion senior forward Madison Scott scored four points to go with five rebounds.

South Carolina’s Chloe Kitts recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the sixth triple-double in the program’s history. The forward’s size and length was an issue all night for the Rebels, another issue that plagues the team on defense.

Ole Miss will finish up the regular season at No. 7 LSU on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT before the SEC Tournament starts next week.

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