Oxford's SEC Tournament hopes shattered Saturday night as Texas overpowered Ole Miss in an 85-68 hard-fought heartbreaker.
Ole Miss fell short against Texas
After a weak first half, the Rebels almost flipped the script on the Longhorns. Almost. The Longhorns came in hot offensively and defensively, and the Rebels found answers at times, but were left scrambling the rest.
Forcing nine turnovers in the first quarter alone, Texas set the tone for their win early. Cotie McMahon tried keeping the Rebels afloat in the first half, but still trailed by ten points entering the second half.
McMahon made it her personal mission to get her team the lead, going shot-for-shot with the Longhorns in the opening minutes.
Lattimore's two consecutive threes helped bring the deficit within single digits. After a barrage of free throws from both teams, it all boiled down to the 57-55 two-point trail at the end of the third quarter.
This was the moment Ole Miss could have had it all. Texas didn't waste any time in regaining the lead, pushing it as high as 10, when suddenly they had a burst of aggressive energy in the final minutes, which ended up in a pair of threes that proved to be the final dagger for Ole Miss. The clock ran out following two more buckets from Texas as the scoreboard read 85-68.
Cotie McMahon and Denim DeShields excelled for the Rebels and kept Ole Miss in the fight throughout with 20 points each, making 15 field goals between the two of them.
The loss officially screeched the Rebels SEC Tournament to a halt. All they do now is brew in the sweet anticipation to find out their NCAA seeding on March 15.