Ole Miss gets hot, shocks Kentucky
MISSISSIPPI 72, NO. 15 KENTUCKY 60
OXFORD, Miss. — Shakira Austin scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Mississippi ended a six-game losing streak with a 72-60 upset of No. 15 Kentucky on Thursday night.
It was just the second Ole Miss win over a ranked team in the 16 matchups under third-year coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. The other was also a win over Kentucky, then No. 16, in the 2018-19 season. The Rebels had lost 13 in a row since, all against SEC rivals.
The Wildcats fell behind by 13 points at halftime and shot 32% (21 of 66). Kentucky shot 36.5% in a win over Missouri on Sunday and a week before that shot a season-low 29% in a loss to Tennessee.
Mimi Reid added 14 points for Ole Miss (8-7, 2-7 SEC).
Rhyne Howard scored 26 points with 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (14-4, 6-3) and Chasity Patterson 14.
Ole Miss rolled to a 41-28 lead at the half, shooting 51.5% (17 of 33) while outrebounding the Wildcats, who were 10 of 30 from the field, 24-12. Austin led the way with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
In other games involving Top 25 women’s teams Thursday, Dana Evans scored 23 points and Hailey Van Lith added 15 to help top-ranked Louisville (17-1, 10-1 ACC) bounce back from its first loss with a 97-68 victory over Boston College. Taylor Soule had 20 points and Makayla Dickens scored 17 for Boston College (5-8, 1-8 ACC). … Zia Cooke scored all 17 of her points in the first half and Aliyah Boston added 14 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 2 South Carolina (15-1, 10-0) over Auburn 77-58. Cooke hit 3 three-pointers in a 50-second span of the first quarter as the Gamecocks led 26-6 over the Tigers (5-12, 0-9). … Kayla Wells scored 14 points and No. 7 Texas A&M overcame a slow start with strong defense late to beat LSU 54-41. The Aggies (17-1, 8-1) have won five in a row since LSU (8-8, 6-4) handed them their only loss in overtime on Jan. 14. Khayla Pointer scored 12 points to lead LSU. NaLyssa Smith had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 8 Baylor beat Kansas 83-50. DiJonai Carrington had 17 points for the Lady Bears (13-2, 8-1 Big 12). Holly Kersgieter had 21 points with 3 three-pointers to lead Kansas (6-9, 2-7). … Brenda Frese tied a school record with her 499th win as coach of the Maryland women’s basketball team by guiding the 10th-ranked Terrapins past Wisconsin 8448 in College Park, Md. It didn’t take long for Maryland (13-2, 9-1 Big Ten) to make it apparent that Frese would get No. 499 against the Badgers (4-12, 1-12). After Wisconsin won the opening tip, Chloe Bibby turned a steal into a breakaway layup to give the Terrapins the lead for good with 19 seconds elapsed. … Jacy Sheldon scored a career-high 29 points, Dorka Juhasz had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 11 Ohio State beat visiting Iowa 92-87. Sheldon scored 14 of her points in the fourth quarter and Juhasz added 10. Aaliyah Patty added 15 points and six rebounds for Ohio State (11-2, 7-2 Big Ten). Freshman Caitlin Clark had 30 points and nine assists for Iowa (10-5, 6-5). … Que Morrison scored 19 of her career-high 25 points after the first half and No. 25 Georgia beat Alabama 8376 in overtime. Morrison grabbed eight rebounds and made 8 of 13 shots from the floor and 9 of 10 from the foul line for the Bulldogs (14-4, 6-4). Jasmine Walker had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Crimson Tide (12-5, 5-5).