Ole Miss-ery: Girls’s basketball loses in Spherical of 32

No. 1 seed Stanford (29-6, 15-3 Pac-12) misplaced 54-49 to No. 8 seed Ole Miss (25-8, 11-5 SEC) in a deflating evening at Maples Pavilion. The second spherical NCAA event loss was Stanford’s earliest elimination since 2007 and was a disappointing finish to a different robust common season — and sure the final with All-American senior guard and group chief Haley Jones.

The final recreation of the season at Maples introduced an brisk crowd stuffed to the rafters and it was additional buoyed by the return of junior ahead Cameron Brink — who missed the event opener with an sickness — to the beginning lineup.

Regardless of a hostile street atmosphere and a full-strength Stanford lineup, the Rebels had been extremely bodily from the second they gained the tip-off. They pressured the Cardinal excessive up the court docket and gave away a fast foul when senior guard Hannah Soar was pushed within the again. Freshman guard Talana Lepolo didn’t shrink back from the battle, although, driving into the paint with an distinctive euro step which took two defenders out of the sport, however her end fell brief. Early on, Ole Miss successfully utilized screens to create open seems to be and their lead grew to 4. Jones and Brink — the one actual vibrant spots for Stanford offensively on the evening — every scored a layup to tie the sport.

The sport was tight and low-scoring within the opening minutes as each groups caught to a powerful defensive form. The Rebels tried to work a neat give-and-go however sophomore ahead Kiki Iriafen — who was restricted to only 4 minutes of taking part in time regardless of beginning — did nicely to tip the ball out of bounds. Ole Miss remained affected person, although, and scored on the subsequent possession because the shot clock expired. After a Lepolo layup dropped, the primary triple try by a Insurgent was good on the different finish and Stanford trailed as soon as extra.

Senior ahead Fran Belibi checked in and blocked a shot, earlier than the Rebels traveled to return the ball to Stanford but once more. However one other three dropped for Ole Miss and Stanford missed a number of layup possibilities, regardless of good ball carrying from freshman guard Indya Nivar off the bench. Soar scored Stanford’s first three of the sport, however the Cardinal not often threatened from deep once more, going 2-7 on the evening. Ole Miss completed the quarter within the ascendancy and will have been additional forward if not for a key block by freshman middle Lauren Betts because the clock was expiring. The officers reset the clock and Ole Miss had one final likelihood to inflict injury however the inbound was mishandled and the quarter ended with out incident. Stanford trailed 18-13 after the primary quarter.

Within the second quarter, Brink scored instantly as Stanford seemed to steal again some momentum, however one other Rebels three adopted. Ole Miss had been out-rebounding Stanford on offense, which has been a uncommon feat this season and underlines their combat. However the Cardinal had been aggressive too and Brink was pissed off when she wrestled a ball away from her opponent but it surely was referred to as a leap ball, a lot to the house crowd’s chagrin.

Brink admitted in her post-game feedback that she was feeling sick all through the sport, however her affect was nonetheless noticeable. She smothered three photographs in fast succession to deliver the gang to its toes as she refused to permit a scoring likelihood for the Rebels. An necessary momentum shift occurred when junior guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu intercepted a cross and had a quick break, however couldn’t rating whereas uncontested, earlier than Ole Miss scored from deep to compound Emma-Nnopu’s miss. The sloppiness continued offensively for Stanford as two Ole Miss gamers confronted accidents, leaving the Cardinal with a 5 on 4 likelihood, however the ball was thrown out of bounds.

After a timeout, the Rebels remained within the ascendancy however couldn’t ship constant photographs, particularly when Brink disrupted the sight-line of the offensive gamers. Regardless of the stellar protection, Stanford was in a scoring rut and Ole Miss was delivering blocks and rebounds of its personal. The tip of the half introduced some controversy and underlined Nivar’s inexperience as she heard the shot clock violation and, believing it to be the tip of the quarter, took a number of steps and traveled, offering the Rebels with the ball as soon as extra; their deep shot was near connecting, however at half-time, Stanford trailed 29-20.

The followers had been determined to see the Cardinal prevail and the noise grew to become much more deafening within the second half as Stanford tried to mount an unbelievable comeback. Initially, Stanford nonetheless exhibited some inertia, exemplified by Soar stumbling and dropping possession — one in all her 4 turnovers on the evening, which trailed solely Jones (5) for many of any participant. An intercepted Belibi cross led to a Rebels rating as turnovers continued to plague the house facet. Certainly, Stanford had extra gamers with a turnover (eight) than it had gamers with a degree (six), illustrating each how the sport was misplaced and the poor offensive output on show.

Brink continued to dam photographs however Ole Miss scored from a resultant in-bound to develop its result in double digits. Belibi unintentionally clattered into Rebels guard Myah Taylor, who was mendacity winded on the bottom, however play continued as a result of there was no foul. The sequence ended when Brink was fouled, however consideration remained on Taylor, who walked off to an ovation after her harm scare which left Ole Miss head coach Yolett Mcphee-McCuin livid that play was not stopped. Brink made each free-throws, going 10-10 on the evening general. At mid-quarter, Ole Miss had 4 group fouls, giving Stanford hope for a means again into the sport. Nevertheless, a crushing blow adopted when senior ahead Ashten Prechtel turned the ball over then gave up an and-one taking pictures foul in a determined bid to make amends for her preliminary mistake.

A sequence of miscues started Stanford’s comeback: first, Nivar was allowed to get her palms on a Rebels cross to pressure a leap ball and cease a easy layup, earlier than the ball ricocheted off of the Rebels ahead’s again from the in-bound, from which Brink collected it. Though Soar missed the three, Brink adopted up, shot, received her personal rebound and scored on the second time asking. With the gang roaring and Ole Miss pressured into taking a timeout, it appeared fortunes had been altering, however the extremely disciplined and grounded Rebels group stored calm, drove to the basket and scored.

Taylor — regardless of not scoring many within the recreation — was the group’s chief and far of their greatest play went by means of her. One instance got here when the Rebels had just about no passing choices left however discovered a strategy to flip it to Taylor, who went underneath the basket and laid it up, surrounded by outstretched arms. Within the dying seconds of the quarter, Lepolo discovered Jones, who was triple-teamed however nonetheless received the shot off and drew a foul. She scored one and the quarter ended 42-35 in Ole Miss’ favor.

Within the fourth quarter, Ole Miss sought to sluggish the sport all the way down to protect its lead whereas Stanford continued to overlook layups and photographs. An awesome play adopted when Belibi corralled a bounce cross within the paint, sank to her knees and fed the ball in direction of Nivar, who was on the left wing; Nivar received to the ball simply forward of her marker, drawing the foul. Jones and Brink had been every responsible of doing an excessive amount of at instances as they seemed to erase the deficit on their very own.

“I noticed individuals making an attempt to do it themselves all through the entire recreation,” head coach Tara Vanderveer mentioned. “I believe that’s on me, we struggled with [running offense].”

Belibi was bodily as ever however gave up a unnecessary foul when she dove for the ball and took out a Rebels participant close to the Stanford bench. It was Stanford’s fourth group foul in simply the fourth minute of the quarter. By mid-quarter, Ole Miss had constructed on its lead from the beginning of the fourth as Stanford seemed out of concepts. However Brink ended a virtually 4 minute scoring drought when she spun within the paint and completed. With the protection needing a cease, Stanford triple-teamed Rebels guard Angel Baker, however she fed the ball out to freshman guard Ayana Thompson, whose wide-open three-point shot circled the rim and fell out.

Stanford drove down the court docket with Jones, however her feed to Nivar was barely underhit and it got here unfastened, forcing one other leap ball which went towards the Cardinal. However the protection made up for the turnover with successive stops, and Jones scored regardless of a double-team to make it a two level recreation with two minutes remaining. Stanford accomplished the unbelievable comeback after it entered the bonus and Brink dispatched each photographs from the road. The Rebels missed two photographs on the opposite finish earlier than Jones collected the rebound and VanDerveer referred to as timeout. At this level, bolstered by the gang and reinvigorated by the tied rating, it appeared inevitable that Stanford would prevail.

“I believed we battled very well within the second half,” VanDerveer mentioned. “We tied it up and we had a possibility to win the sport.”

“In fact, [at that point] I didn’t suppose we had been going to lose however we did,” Brink added.

As Stanford carried the ball with 40 seconds to play, Jones nearly turned it over however Lepolo recovered it. After one other timeout, Jones performed it to Soar in the precise nook; she was tightly guarded and vulnerable to stepping out of bounds, so she handed the ball again in direction of Jones, but it surely was simply intercepted by Rebels ahead Madison Scott. Jones fouled her and she or he made each free throws to revive the lead.

Stanford couldn’t reply because the in-bound discovered Jones, who misplaced management and knocked the ball out of play. Ole Miss made two extra free throws to pile the strain on Stanford. What adopted was essentially the most calamitous of the three consecutive turnovers, and finally the deadly blow to the Cardinal’s season. After VanDerveer’s remaining timeout, Jones hurled a lob cross-court on the lookout for Brink on the weak facet, but it surely was too weak and fell straight to a defender.

“I assume [the play] wasn’t executed,” Jones mentioned. “I attempted to throw a lob however I assume it wasn’t excessive sufficient, I’m undecided.”

Stanford received the ball again with mere seconds left, Soar had a very good look from deep which might have made issues fascinating, but it surely circled the rim and landed with a Rebels participant. The sport ended 54-49 as Ole Miss punched its ticket to the Candy 16.

Though Stanford performed nice protection all through, the offense was off-kilter from minute one, significantly in a poor second quarter, and Stanford by no means held a lead within the recreation. VanDerveer cited an absence of expertise as the key motive for the offensive sluggishness. She heaped reward on Nivar and Lepolo, however identified that one in all final 12 months’s starters at this stage within the NCAA event, Lexie Hull ‘22, had 36 factors of their victory, and that dropping the guard trio of Hull, her twin sister Lacie Hull ‘22 and Anna Wilson ‘22 impacted the group on the event stage the place expertise is of heightened significance. She expressed optimism that her core freshmen, together with Betts, can be extra developed subsequent season.

“I believe it was an incredible expertise for our freshmen to be on the market,” VanDerveer mentioned. “I don’t suppose you may ask for a extra gritty participant than Talana [Lepolo], or Indya [Nivar] or Agnes [Emma-Nnopu], however they don’t have the expertise {that a} Lacey [Hull] or an Anna Wilson had.”

Whereas Stanford’s season resulted in disappointment, this was an unbelievable victory for Ole Miss and its younger coach. Mcphee-McCuin and her gamers had been overcome with emotion post-game and spoke of their togetherness and perception guiding them to victory on the evening.

“To take down a historic program like Stanford, a coach and a lady that I’ve watched and admired, is unbelievable,” Mcphee-McCuin mentioned. “The [Stanford] video games are on so late, my group not often sees them play, in order that they weren’t intimidated.”

“I got here to Ole Miss [because] I wish to be underneath a coach that appears like me,” Baker mentioned about her coach. “Coach Yo is a believer, a fighter, and she or he has performed an incredible job with this program.”

For Stanford, this result’s heartbreaking, and student-athletes Jones and Brink had little to say within the post-game press convention, with shock being the prevailing emotion within the room. It was additionally the final recreation at Maples for the ‘Funky 4’ group that followers have come to like a lot; Prechtel and Jones are planning to play professionally and Belibi is prone to attend a graduate program at Harvard College. VanDerveer did reveal that star shooter Hannah Soar is planning to make the most of her COVID-19 12 months of eligibility and return to the Cardinal subsequent season.