Dec. 19, 2011

Box Score

OXFORD, Miss. – Led by three players in double figures, the Ole Miss women’s basketball team beat Murray State, 64-59, in the opening game of the Magnolia Classic Monday night.

With the win, Ole Miss improved to 8-3 while Murray State fell to 3-7.

Nikki Byrd recorded her eighth double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Freshman Amber Singletary recorded a career high 15 points and Maggie McFerrin added 10. Valencia McFarland added eight assists.   

The first half featured 11 lead changes and three ties as neither team led by more than five during the half. Murray State led by five early, 8-3, with 17:22 in the half.  After a pair of free throws from McFarland with 5.6 seconds left in the half, the Rebels led, 26-23 at the break.

In the first half, Singletary, who made her first career start, and Byrd each had six points for Ole Miss.  Byrd also had a team-best five boards while Kenyotta Jenkins added four.  Ole Miss shot 37.7 percent (10-28) from the floor while Murray State shot 24.4 percent (10-41).

The Rebels opened the second half on an 8-2 run to take a 34-25 lead on a three from Singletary with 17:07 left. 

The Racers closed the gap to two, 40-38, with 10:01 remaining after a 10-3 run. Maggie McFerrin hit two threes for Ole Miss to push the Rebels lead to eight, 57-49, with 1:42 to play.

For the game, Ole Miss shot 41.1 percent (23-56) while Murray State shot 29.3 percent (22-75).

Ole Miss will host Cleveland State on Wednesday at 1 p.m.