OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss women’s basketball team entered Sunday on one of the hottest runs in program history.
After a visit from seventh-ranked Tennessee, the Rebels’ streak is toast.
The Lady Volunteers took control in the second quarter, then pulled away in the third on their way to a 70-58 victory that ended the Rebels’ 13-game winning streak that was the third-longest in program history.
Tennessee improved to 15-1 – the program’s best overall start since 15-0 in 2017-18 – and 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference, its best start in league play since 2014-15, when the Lady Vols were 13-0 before winding up 15-1 and winning the SEC regular-season title.
“This is a really good win for our team,” coach Kellie Harper said. “This is a terrific basketball team that we just played. We knew they were going to be tough. They were going to play hard. And they’re physical.”
At Ole Miss (13-2, 1-1), the Lady Vols had a trio of scorers in double figures – Jordan Horston (20 points), Alexus Dye (17) and Tess Darby (13) – and outrebounded the Rebels 46-28.
Horston made four 3-pointers and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double, and she also had two assists, two steals and a block. Tamari Key, who scored six points, was second on Tennessee’s rebound list with seven.
Shakira Austin led Ole Miss with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Lashonda Monk scored 11. Austin was 8-for-11 from the field – her teammates were 12-for-49 – and made 10 of 12 free throws.
Tennessee got going with a 13-0 run in the second quarter, went to halftime ahead 39-21 and built a a 20-point lead early in the third. Austin scored 11 points in the quarter to help the Rebels close to within 11 points multiple times, but the Lady Vols went 8-for-11 at the foul line in the third and Ole Miss never got within single digits again.
“I feel like we did a good job of just staying poised,” Horston said. “Ole Miss, they do a good job of pressuring and playing for 40 minutes. We knew they were going to come out with a lot of aggression in the second half and throughout the whole game.
“I feel like we handled that well, just staying calm and staying together and playing our game, playing Tennessee basketball.”
Tennessee plays Thursday at Vanderbilt (10-6, 1-1), with SEC Network televising the 9 p.m. Eastern game.