OXFORD, Miss. – A 22-7 final quarter by Ole Miss proved too be difference in Jacksonville State's 68-50 loss to the Rebels on Thursday night at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.

Both losses by the Gamecocks (1-2) in the first full week of the 2017-17 season have come against Power 5 opponents as JSU dropped an 11-point decision to Florida State to open the season.  The Rebels improved to 3-0 on the season after its final quarter surge to extend a 46-43 lead through three quarters to the 18-point final margin. 

The Rebels opened the final 10 minutes with a 10-0 run and pushed the lead out to 16 points before JSU's first basket of the half at the 7:31 mark by Mississippi native Kiandria 'Ki-Ki' Patterson.  The Rebels took advantage of its size and scored 26 points in the paint, including 10 of the 26 points in the final period.  The Gamecocks had no answer for UM's Taylor Manuel in the paint as she scored all of her 13 points in the second half.

JSU went toe-to-toe with the Southeastern Conference program through the first three quarters and held a lead of 29-24 after a three pointer by Patterson with 35 seconds left in the half.  JSU turned in a 20-11 scoring run to take its first lead of the game on a Tasha Magruder lay up with 3:19 left in the half.  Magruder, a junior transfer from Taneytown, Maryland, gave her club its second lead of the game with another basket before JSU had three-point baskets from junior Gretchen Morrison and Patterson's trey.

For the second consecutive trip to Ole Miss, JSU took a lead into intermission at 29-27.  In its season opener in 2013-14, the Gamecocks led by 11 points, 35-24, before a second half scoring surge by the Rebels.

It was a tough shooting night for both teams early on as they were a combined 6-of-36 from the field.  JSU connected on just two shots from the field – both from long range, which extended JSU's streak of consecutive games with a three-point basket to 75 straight games.  The Rebels hit just eight baskets in the first 20 minutes.  JSU's 22-point second quarter was aided by a 7-of-13 performance from the field. 

"We got off to a miserable start in the first quarter, but we finished the quarter well and then then we had a nice run in the second quarter that was sparked by Tyler Phelion and Leah Strain, which gave us a shot in the arm and gave us some energy," said head coach Rick Pietri.  "I thought we carried that over to the early part of the third quarter and then we had a few breakdowns, coupled that with our inability to put anything in the basket in the last half of the third and in to the fourth."

After a back-and-forth game to start the third quarter and JSU's final lead of the game at 42-41 after a Phelion basket with 2:47 left in the quarter, Ole Miss' Shandricka Sessom hit a three pointer to give the Rebels the lead for the rest of the way. 

Phelion sparked the Gamecock offense with team-best 11 points in 21 minutes of action.  The Mobile, Alabama product was 3-for-4 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.  Senior Destany McLin added nine points, while JSU's leading scorer, Briana Benson finished with eight points and a team-best seven rebounds. 
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All five Ole Miss starters turned in double figures, led by Erika Sisk's 15 points.  Sessom posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.  Shequila Joseph had 13 points in the first half and did not score in the second half.  Madinah Muhammad added 12 points.

"In particularly in the fourth quarter they just controlled the inside game.  They have some big, skilled post players that are very good and we were able to challenge them in the first half, but I don't know if we ran out of gas physically or mentally – either way we were not able to manage their post game late," added Pietri.

 Jax State opens its 13-game home schedule on Sunday, Nov. 20, hosting Georgia Southern.  Tip off at Pete Mathews Coliseum is set for 3:30 p.m.  The Gamecocks open the Thanksgiving week competition on Tuesday, Nov 22, facing the Privateers of New Orleans.

"It will be interesting to play a game in our building in a game that matters.  It is a holiday for our school, so hopefully we will have folks come out to support us, because playing at home in front of a crowd infuses energy in to the game.  We could use that because we are playing two opponents that are capable of beating us."

For tickets to both games log on to JSUGamecocksSports.com.  Admission is free to all JSU students and kids 18 years old and under.