In one of its highest NET games to date, Ole Miss was unable to overcome a second-half deficit, falling to Alabama at home on Sunday, 63-58.
Despite holding Alabama (14-4, 3-2 SEC) to its fewest made threes in a game this season at five, Ole Miss (16-3, 5-1 SEC) could not piece together a fourth quarter comeback to take down the Tide.
Destiny Salary led the Rebels in scoring with a career-high 16 points, after going a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. With her ninth-straight game scoring in double-figures, Madison Scott scored 11 points as well as grabbing 14 rebounds for her seventh double-double this year. Angel Baker tallied double digits as well, finishing with 12 points.
With Myah Taylor in early foul trouble, Salary stepped up with a triple to open up a 6-0 scoring run, while keeping Alabama away from the basket for over four minutes in the opening frame. The Rebels were able to restrict the Crimson Tide from deep, holding them to just three field goals alone in the first to take a 17-9 lead.
Salary didn’t cool off, as the junior paced the Rebels matching her season-high of 12 points in the second quarter. A 7-0 run from Alabama, cut the Ole Miss lead to four at 22-18. A shooting slump for the Rebels ensued, with the Crimson Tide able to tie things up at 25 all. Responding back was Scott, with her first bucket of the game to allow Ole Miss to take a 27-25 lead heading into halftime.
An 11-0 Alabama run to open the second half, had Ole Miss facing its largest deficit of the day to date down by five. Baker and Scott fought to keep the Rebels within distance, yet still trailed 40-35 with 10 minutes remaining.
The Rebels struggled to pull themselves out of yet another scoring drought, as Alabama began to find its footing from three. Ole Miss proved they weren’t done yet, scoring back-to-back buckets from Baker and Singleton to cut the Crimson Tide lead to six at 50-46 with under four minutes remaining. Another Salary shot from beyond the arc brought the game to within three at under two minutes left, down 52-49. However, the Rebels did not have enough gas left in the tank to overcome Alabama, ultimately falling 63-58.
Ole Miss will return to action next Sunday (Jan. 22) with a trip to The Plains to face off against Auburn. The 4 p.m. CT tip against the Tigers is set to air nationally on SEC Network.
