NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team fell to Ole Miss, 67-61, in SEC action Thursday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
Junior Iyana Moore led the Commodores in scoring, as the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native scored 18 points. Moore matched her season-best in 3-pointers, as she sank four shots from behind the arc against the Rebels. The guard’s 18 points against Ole Miss also extended her double-digit scoring streak to four games.
Moore was one of three Dores that scored double-digit points in Thursday’s contest. Freshman Khamil Pierre tallied 14 points off the bench, while graduate student Jordyn Cambridge registered 11 points. For Pierre, it marked the fourth time that she has scored double-digit points in an SEC game this season. Meanwhile, Cambridge extended her personal double-digit scoring streak to three games with an 11-point outing.
Vandy was outscored 21-11 in points off turnovers despite the Dores forcing Mississippi into two more turnovers at 16-18. The Commodores also had trouble keeping the Rebels off the glass, as Ole Miss outrebounded Vanderbilt, 39-29, while outscoring the Commodores 16-8 in second-chance points.
With the loss to Ole Miss, the Commodores have now dropped three-straight games, which has put Vanderbilt’s overall record at 17-5 and an even 4-4 in SEC play.
Vandy jumped out to a lead in the first quarter, as the Commodores held an early 7-2 advantage. A 7-0 run by Ole Miss gave the Rebels a 9-7 lead, but the Dores would answer with five-consecutive points of their own to close out the opening frame and take a 12-9 lead into the second stanza.
Pierre’s jump shot to open the second quarter gave the Dores a 14-9 advantage. Ole Miss rolled off eight-straight points after Pierre’s bucket to reclaim a 3-point lead at 17-14, but back-to-back layups from Pierre put Vanderbilt up by a point 18-17 with 6:05 left to play before the half. The two teams traded blows after Pierre’s layups, but it was the freshman once again that put Vanderbilt on top at 29-28 with a jumper with 37 ticks on the clock left before halftime. The Dores had a chance to expand their lead in the closing seconds of the half, however, Vandy missed a layup with six seconds left. Ole Miss grabbed the rebound and went the entire length of the court to score a layup just before the halftime buzzer sounded to give the Rebels a 30-29 lead at the break.
The Commodores went on a 6-2 run coming out of the locker room, as consecutive layups from graduate student Jordyn Oliver put the Dores up 35-33 at the 7:50 mark of the third. The Rebels battled back, as Ole Miss closed the quarter out with a pair of baskets to take a 51-44 lead going into the night’s final stanza.
The Rebels took a game-high nine-point lead during the opening stages of the fourth quarter, as they held a 56-47 advantage over Vanderbilt with 8:20 remaining. The Dores rolled off five-straight points to make it a 56-52 game, but the Rebels would push their lead back out to eight points with 4:31 remaining. Vanderbilt would close its gap to five points at 60-55 with 3:33 left on the clock, but that would be as close as the Dores would get, as Ole Miss walked out of Memorial Gym with a six-point win.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“The thing that we were missing today was toughness. There are all kinds of ways you can work on rebounding. There are plenty of teams that are undersized that outrebound people because they are tougher. They decide they are going to go get the rebound. With rebounding and defense, it’s a skill but it takes heart and effort. I’m not saying that my team doesn’t have it, but we just got out-toughed today in a lot of areas. They made some shots that were tough buckets. Another factor was our turnovers. Sixteen turnovers aren’t great, but they were really bad turnovers that led to layups. You’ve got to be tough enough to make a play when things aren’t going your way.”
Up Next
The Commodores continue their three-game SEC homestand Monday, as Vanderbilt welcomes in Alabama. Tipoff against the Crimson Tide is set for 6 p.m. and will air live on SEC Network.
Dore Notes
- Junior Iyana Moore extends her double-digit scoring streak to four games with an 18-point outing against the Rebels
- It is Moore’s 14th game with double-digit points this season, while it is her 35th career game with 10 or more points
- Moore led the Commodore scoring for the seventh time this season with 18 points scored against the Rebels
- Moore made four 3-pointers in Thursday’s contest, tying her season best
- Freshman Khamil Pierre registered double-digit points for the seventh time this season with a 14-point performance
- It is the fourth time that Pierre has scored double-figure points against an SEC school this season
- Graduate student Jordyn Oliver collected a season-high seven assists
- Graduate student Jordyn Cambridge has now collected a steal in 60-straight games
- Vanderbilt falls to 35-20 all-time against Ole Miss, as the Rebels have now won three-straight games against the Commodores
- Vandy drops back-to-back home games for the first time this season, as the Dores are now 11-2 at home this season
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