FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas women's basketball Coach Jimmy Dykes was not pleased with his team's start in Sunday afternoon's regular-season finale in Bud Walton Arena, but he sure liked the finish.
Jessica Jackson scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half and Arkansas put together an 11-2 fourth-quarter run for a 60-49 victory over Ole Miss.
Arkansas 60, Ole Miss 49
Ole Miss (10-19, 2-14 SEC)
Sessom 9-24 0-0 19; Muhammad 5-17 2-2 14; Joseph 2-7 0-0 6; Hayes 1-8 2-2 5; Hart 2-4 0-0 4; Alston 0-4 1-2 1; Lewis 0-2 0-0 0; Muhate Pena 0-0 0-0 0; Sisk 0-2 0-0 0; Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-68 5-6 49.
Arkansas (12-17, 7-9 SEC)
Jackson 3-10 10-14 17; Danberry 4-10 5-11 13; Brooks 3-8 4-6 12; Cosper 2-9 4-6 8; Wolff 3-9 0-3 6; Monk 2-5 0-0 4; Cooley 0-0 0-0 0; Freeman 0-0 0-0 0; Swenson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-53 23-40 60.
Ole Miss^19^6^6^18^—^49
Arkansas^8^12^19^21^—^60
3-point goals—Ole Miss 6-27 (Muhammad 2-9; Joseph 2-5; Hayes 1-1; Sessom 1-9; Sisk0-1; Lewis0-2), Arkansas 3-12 (Brooks 2-4; Jackson 1-4; Cosper 0-2; Wolff 0-1; Swenson 0-1). Rebounds—Ole Miss 45 (Joseph 10), Arkansas 45 (Wolff 13). Assists—Ole Miss 9 (Hayes 4; Muhammad 4), Arkansas 10 (Danberry 4). Total fouls—Ole Miss 29, Arkansas 13. Technical fouls—None. Fouled Out: Hayes, Joseph, Ole Miss.
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Estimated Actual Attendance: 2812
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Arkansas (12-17, 7-9 SEC) will be the No. 10 seed and take on No. 7-seed Tennessee at 6 p.m. Thursday in the opening round of the SEC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.
Ole Miss, which finished last in the SEC, led by 13 points early and gave the Razorbacks fits much of the game. The Lady Rebels (10-19, 2-14) tied the score at 44-44 after Madinah Muhammad's three-pointer with 5:11 left in the fourth quarter. Arkansas then used an 11-2 spurt to take control of the game.
"It was really a horrible start to our game today," Dykes said. "Just couldn't believe how we got started. Missing layups. Missing free throws and lack of energy. But once we got that turned around we kinda controlled the game from there on."
Arkansas beat Ole Miss' full-court pressure and Kelsey Brooks made a jumper from the wing to give the Razorbacks the lead for good, 46-44, and senior Melissa Wolff added a jumper to push the lead to four.
The Razorbacks then put the game away with strong defense and solid free throw shooting -- making 8 of 12 in the final three minutes.
Dykes was not happy with how Jackson started the game, but the 6-foot-3 junior was much better in the final 20 minutes and so were the Razorbacks.
"In the second half, we did spread the floor and got Jess involved in our offense and because of her size was a little bit for them to handle," Dykes said. "She was much more active in the second half. Part of that is why she produced in the second half."
Freshman Jordan Danberry added 13 points and Brooks 12 for Arkansas, while Wolff grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Shandricka Seesom, a 5-10 sophomore, led all scorers with 19 points for Ole Miss, while Muhammad added 14.
The Razorbacks enjoyed a big advantage from the free-throw line, but could have had more -- making just 23 of 40 (58 percent).
Ole Miss made 5 of 6.
Ole Miss Coach Matt Insell wasn't pleased with the differential from the foul line. He also said foul trouble by point guard A'Queen Hayes also a problem for the Lady Rebels, who lost its 10th consecutive game.
"The difference in the game 40-6," Insell said. "Forty free throws to six free throws. We drive the basketball. We're a driving team. We're getting in the paint. Obviously we shot some threes because they were playing zone. But we're driving in there and both teams are real physical defensively.
"It hurt us with A'Queen Hayes not in the game. If she's in the game, we don't score six points in the third quarter. That's how important she is to our basketball team from a point guard situation. She's a kid that plays 37-38 minutes a night and tonight she played 21 minutes. That kills you."
Sports on 02/29/2016