16 hours ago
Ole Miss Athletics
STANFORD, California. – From the jump, eighth seed Ole Miss played against a Stanford seed Sunday night from Maples Pavilion in a victory over Cardinal, 54-49. Ole Miss beat the top-ranked Cardinal to move up to 11th Sweet Sixteen in show history and earned her first win over the No. 1 seed in seven tries. Ole Miss (25-8, 11-5 SECOND) fearless and beat one of the nation’s best recovery teams at Stanford (29-6, 15-3 PAC-12), to advance to the first Sweet Sixteen since 2007. The Rebels defeated Cardinal, 44 to 39, and won 20 counterattacks.
In another super team effort, three Rebels finished in double digits while spinning at 45% from outside the arc. Angel Baker continues to prove why she’s one of the country’s top guards, leading the Rebels with 13 points and also winning four bounces. Joining Davis in the doubles is also Marquesha Davis with 12 points for her 18th double of the season, while also winning 5 steals. Clearing the glass was Rita Igbokwe with the highest 8 rebounds of his teammate.
Standing out from the deep, was freshman Ayanna Thompson with the highest three career doubles for a total of nine points overnight. Myah Taylor is also a defensive force, with six bounces, three steals, and one block. As a team, Ole Miss defeated Cardinal’s six shots.
Baker and Scott jostled each other to get Ole Miss to warm up to start the night. Cardinal quickly defeated Ole Miss in more than two minutes to open the scoring very early. Ole Miss took a six-point lead 16-10 thanks to a Thompson strike with three minutes left in the first half. A smooth jump from Collins helped Ole Miss successfully cushion the ball 18-13.
The Rebels remained strong from outside the arc, using three balls to extend their six-point lead from another Thompson treble with a 26-20 scoreline. Both Ole Miss and Stanford fell in form, while Cardinal also struggled to hold the ball with 12 turns in the first half. Ole Miss’s 6-0 win allowed it to take the lead and force Stanford into the dressing room for the first time at home this season, 29-20.
Refusing to let Stanford access the basket due to their nasty defensive efforts, Ole Miss refused to let Cardinal score easily in restricting them in another multi-minute scoring drought. Davis continued to attack smoothly, with seven points in the third quarter. Stanford put together a 6-0 run to win the seventh round 38-31 with 2 minutes left in the third inning and hold seven to advance into the final 10 minutes.
Stanford’s all-American Cameron Brink ran together to make it a one-man possession game with Ole Miss leading 44-41 in the first minutes of the fourth inning. Baker has proven himself to be a true pitcher, hitting shots that helped Ole Miss cement the lead, but Stanford wasn’t ready to leave just yet. Eight consecutive points from Cardinal helped end the game for the first time since the first quarter as the clock ticked down. Scott took consecutive free throws, while Davis went on to take two of her own to increase Rebel’s lead to four. It was Taylor who sealed the victory for Ole Miss with a season-defining steal, followed by a free throw taken to give the Rebels a 54-49 win and a trip to Seattle for the Sweet Sixteen.
Next
The insurgents await their opponents and will face the winner of the Louisville vs. Texas battle in Sweet Sixteen on Friday (March 24) at the Climate Pledge Arena.
