No. 24 Ole Miss pulls away from Little Rock late in Saturday's contest

OXFORD, Miss. — Little Rock continues to climb uphill through an extremely difficult non-conference slate, the latest a 58-45 loss Saturday at No. 24 Ole Miss. Despite another slow start offensively, the Trojans (0-5) never let the host Rebels (6-1) get too comfortable or run away with the contest. Little Rock trailed by just seven entering the final frame before Ole Miss outscored Little Rock 20-12 in the fourth period.
 
BOX SCORE
 
Faith Lee scored a game-high 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, Jayla Brooks added 10 points and five rebounds, Leilani Wimbish-Gay put up eight points and six rebounds, while Mesi Triplett added nine points. Little Rock made just 6-of-22 shots in the first half but improved to make 13-of-31 in the second.
 
Marquesha Davis and Snudda Collins each had 11 points to lead Ole Miss, while the Rebels posted a 40-26 advantage on the boards with Tyla Singleton grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. The Ole Miss bench also outscored Little Rock reserves by a 29-9 margin.
 
Ole Miss led by as many as 15 midways through the second period and Little Rock never led although the Trojans tied the game on two occasions and got as close as four points (35-31) in the final minute of the third. Little Rock trailed by just two points (42-40) at the 7:26 mark of the fourth before Ole Miss reeled off eight straight to stretch its lead to 50-40 with 4:35 to play. The Trojans would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
 
Little Rock returns home Saturday, Dec. 2 to host Central Arkansas as part of the Governor's I-40 Showdown. The two schools have met each year since 2019 with the Trojans holding a 3-1 lead in the series. UCA won last year's meeting in Conway.