McFarland Led Ole Miss With 16 Points
OXFORD, Miss. – Valencia McFarland and Tia Faleru combined for 30 points against No. 14 South Carolina, but the Gamecocks came away with the 62-47 win Sunday afternoon.
With the loss Ole Miss fell to 9-16 overall (2-10 SEC) while No. 14 South Carolina improved to 21-5 (9-4 SEC).
McFarland scored 16 points and added six rebounds and four assists while Faleru scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. For the game, Ole Miss shot 31.4 percent (16-51) from the floor while South Carolina shot 39.4 percent (26-66).
“Today was a tough game, it was a physical game. I thought like our kids competed hard and did some of the things that were really important to us such as blocking out and being physical,” head coach Brett Frank said. “Unfortunately we came across a team that was a little tougher and a little better than us, and that’s not to take away from my own players, it’s to give credit to Dawn Staley and her staff.”
The Gamecocks led 15-9 with 12:10 left in the half and South Carolina took a 29-15 lead at the half. At the break, McFarland led Ole Miss with eight points. As a team, Ole Miss shot 21.4 percent (6-28) from the floor while South Carolina shot 37.5 percent (12-32).
In the second half, Ole Miss started on an 8-0 run capped by a layup from Courtney Marbra to cut South Carolina’s lead to 29-23 with 18:55 left to play.
The Gamecocks responded and used an 11-2 run to push its lead back to double digits, 40-25, with 16:30 to play.
Ole Miss will travel to Texas A&M Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip against the Aggies.