No. 24 Ole Miss Succumbs to No. 1 South Carolina in Columbia

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Ole Miss women's basketball fell to No. 1 South Carolina 69-40 on Thursday night at Colonial Life Arena.
The No. 24 Rebels (17-3, 5-2 SEC) are ranked in the AP Top 25 this week for the first time since 2007, but their first game with this distinction came against the buzzsaw that is the top-ranked Gamecocks. Ole Miss was out-rebounded by South Carolina 47-33 and only mustered 20 points in each half on Thursday.
Ole Miss was led in scoring by Shakira Austin with 15 points, but she was the only Rebel to reach a double-digit point total on the night and one of six Rebels who scored at all. Madison Scott and Donnetta Johnson were second on the team in scoring with eight points apiece.
South Carolina only had one double-digit scorer on Thursday as well in the form of Aliyah Boston, but she reached 22 points in the game. Overall, the Gamecocks shot 40.7 percent from the field compared to Ole Miss' 27.6 percent.
Ole Miss now rests at 5-2 in conference play with Georgia scheduled to come to Oxford on Sunday, and the Rebels' only two conference losses have come to teams ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
Tip-off between Ole Miss and Georgia is set for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday and will be broadcasted on SEC Network+.
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John Macon Gillespie is the publisher of The Grove Report and has experience on the Ole Miss beat spanning five years.
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