How It Happened: Ole Miss Women's Basketball Drops 74-67 SEC Clash to Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 19/20 Ole Miss women's basketball fell to Florida, 74-67, Thursday evening at Exactech Arena at Stephen O'Connel Center.

Tianna Thompson had a career night for the Rebels (21-9, 8-7 SEC), scoring a career high 25 points. She drained seven 3-pointers to reach that total, which is tied with several Rebels for the fourth-most triples in a single game in program history. The last Rebel to do so was Torri Lewis against Alabama on Feb. 11, 2018.

Behind Thompson were Cotie McMahon and Christeen Iwuala, who scored 15 and 10 points, respectively. McMahon reached double-digit scoring marks for the 28th time this season. The most recent Rebel to have that many such games was Crystal Allen in 2018-19.

Latasha Lattimore made Ole Miss history with two blocks against the Gators (17-13, 5-10 SEC). She reached 66 blocks this season, which is tied with Shakira Austin for the third most blocks by any Rebel in a single season. Austin accomplished her defensive feat in the 2021-22 season.

Florida's Liv McGill led the Gators with 28 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Defense headlined the first five minutes of the game. Neither team surpassed the 10-point mark at the first media timeout, but a three from Thompson put the Rebels in the lead at the whistle.

Thompson made another triple after the timeout concluded, as Ole Miss began to string together some momentum. Thompson remained on fire from long range, draining a third 3-pointer of the quarter to tie her career high as the Rebels entered the second period with a 17-16 lead.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Women's Basketball.

As a team, Ole Miss began to fire offensively. A layup from Lattimore and a three from Debreasha Powe kickstarted a good start to the period for the Rebels.

While the Gators kept things close, the Rebels scored seven unanswered which Thompson capped with her fourth 3-pointer of the day.

The teams traded blows for the remainder of the period, as Florida put together a scoring run of its own. The Gators made a last second layup to give themselves a 40-37 lead at half.

Florida kept its momentum to start the third quarter. The Gators scored the first two field goals of the period while the Rebels stayed close via the free throw line.

A 3-pointer from McMahon put Ole Miss back within a single possession of a tie. From there, Iwuala took over by scoring six consecutive points to tie the game.

Her game-tying bucket came after she went coast-to-coast after she picked off a pass. The tie wouldn't last, as the Gators added a layup and four free throws to take a 55-50 lead into the final quarter.

Florida opened the fourth strong, widening its lead to 14 points. Thompson wouldn't let the lead grow, as she drained her fifth and sixth threes of the game, helping bring the lead back down to five for Florida. Thompson's efforts wasn't enough as Florida pulled ahead once more, ultimately winning 74-67.

Ole Miss will celebrate its seniors in the regular season finale against Texas A&M in Oxford on Sunday, March 1. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT and will be streamed on SECN+.

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