Ole Miss Odds and Ends: Women's basketball drops home finale, still secures best SEC finish in nearly 30 years

Staff and Wire Reports | In its home finale on senior day from the SJB Pavilion, Ole Miss stood tough with the nation’s best in No. 1 South Carolina, but ultimately came up short falling 71-57. The Rebels wrap up the regular season with a fourth-place finish in SEC play, for its best since the 1993-94 season.
 
South Carolina (27-1, 15-1 SEC) utilized a fourth quarter surge to power past Ole Miss (22-7, 10-6 SEC) to come away with the victory, as the Rebels honored Shakira Austin, Donnetta Johnson, Iyanla Kitchens, Lashonda Monk, Adeija Puckett and Mimi Reid pregame.
 
Leading Ole Miss was Austin recording her ninth 20-point performance of the season, with 20 points and seven rebounds. Running point, Monk dropped 16 points and grabbing four boards. In her final game at the SJB Pavilion, Reid dished out five assists for her 11^th game this season with five plus. As a reserve, Angel Baker came in to add 11 points.
 
Monk was not here to mess around with a quick six points to pace the Rebels to start, while Baker added six of her own. While Ole Miss took off on a 6-0 run to end the quarter, the Rebels held the Gamecocks without a field goal the final two minutes as South Carolina led by two at 19-17 through the first.
 
Carried by Austin, the Rebels fought back to meet up with the Gamecocks at 23 all early in the second, while Baker and Monk continued to reach the basket. South Carolina flipped the script with a 6-0 run, while holding the Rebels scoreless for over two and a half minutes to build its lead up to 38-29. Ole Miss worked to close the gap within six at 40-33 heading into the break.
 
The Rebels cut the deficit to three early into the second half, yet the Gamecocks responded back on the outsides hitting shots from deep to extend its lead.
 
It was a two-possession game heading into the fourth, right before a 10-0 Gamecock run allowed them to grasp a firm lead to seal the 71-57 victory.
 
The Rebels wrap up the regular season with its best finish in conference play since the 1993-94 season and will await their next opponent as the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament in Nashville this next week. Ole Miss will face the winner of game four on Friday March 4, at approximately 2:25 p.m. on SEC Network.

Strong start at Cabo Collegiate sees Ole Miss men’s golf in third

Staff and Wire Reports | The Ole Miss men’s golf team had a red-hot start to the 2022 Cabo Collegiate in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Sunday, ending day one with a team score of 274 (-10) and sitting in third with two rounds left to be played.

A total of four Rebels would end day one in the 60s, as the team logged a total of 19 birdies and a pair of eagles to help launch Ole Miss into the top three in the field consisting of nine teams currently ranked in Golfstat’s Top 25.

“Our guys showed me a lot today,” said head coach Chris Malloy. “We didn’t have our best stuff and they never gave an inch and grinded out a good round of golf. We have a long way to go but I like what I saw today.”

Putting together the best rounds of the day for the Rebels were both Kyle Meeks and Evan Brown, who would wrap up their opening rounds in Cabo by logging three-under scores of 68, slotting them each into a tie for seventh.

Meeks’ strong start to his tournament could best be attributed to his front nine play, where the redshirt-freshman sunk a total of four birdies to help propel him into the top 10. With birdies on two of his final three holes of the day, Meeks’ score of 68 (-3) marks a new career-low 18-hole score, having previously set a career-low of 69 in the final round of the Puerto Rico Classic two weeks ago.

Brown on the other hand had his consistency help guide him to his round of 68 on the day, as the graduate transfer’s day would end finishing par or better on all 18 holes, netting three birdies in the process. Despite having missed time due to injury, Brown bounced back in a big way for the Rebels, tying his season-low of 68 that was originally set at the White Sands Invitational during the fall season.

Not far down the board for the Rebels was Sarut Vongchaisit, who ended his opening round at the Cove Club by shooting a 69 (-2) to tie him for 19th. Leading the field in par-5 scoring (-4) on the day, Vongchaisit took advantage of an eagle opportunity on Hole 16 and tallied an additional four birdies on the day to help push the Bangkok, Thailand, native up the leaderboard.

Teammate Jackson Suber, who would also end his day tied for 19th with a 69 (-2), logged an eagle of his own on the par 5 Hole 4. The senior then continued to blaze the course, adding on five more birdies to his card with his only major hiccup coming on Hole 16, where he triple-bogeyed.

Rounding out the lineup for the Rebels on the day was Brett Schell, who capped off his opening round in Cabo with an 84 (+13).

Sitting atop the team leaderboard heading into day two is Oklahoma State, as the Cowboys ended round one by shooting a 271 (-13), just three strokes ahead of the Rebels.

Play at the Cabo Collegiate will resume Monday morning, with a shotgun start for all competitors set for 9:00 a.m. CT on the Cove Club Golf Course.

THE REBELS
T7. Kyle Meeks: 68 (-3)
T7. Evan Brown: 68 (-3)
T19. Jackson Suber: 69 (-2)
T19. Sarut Vongchaisit: 69 (-2)
77. Brett Schell: 84 (+13)

TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Oklahoma State: 271 (-13)
2. Florida State: 272 (-12)
3. Ole Miss: 274 (-10)
4. Arkansas: 276 (-8)
5. Tennessee: 279 (-5)
T6. Stanford: 281 (-3)
T6. Vanderbilt: 281 (-3)
T6. Texas Tech: 281 (-3)
9. California: 282 (-2)
T10. Baylor: 285 (+1)
T10. Arizona: 285 (+1)
12. Alabama: 286 (+2)
13. Houston: 289 (+5)
14. Rice: 294 (+10)
15. Arizona State: 295 (+11)