By Ole Miss Athletics

In front of a program record setting crowd of 9,074, Ole Miss women’s basketball battled back and forth with No. 7 LSU but could not overcome the nation’s top offense, falling 84-73 from the SJB Pavilion on Sunday.

Despite Ole Miss (11-4, 1-1 SEC) holding No. 7 LSU (15-1, 2-0 SEC) under its scoring average, it was not enough to slow down the high-powered Tigers who drained eight three’s against the Rebels. It was Marquesha Davis anchoring the Rebels with a season-best 24 points, the most by an Ole Miss player this year. Dictating the floor, Madison Scott dished out a career-best eight assists and added 13 points. Snudda Collins finished in double-figures as well, adding 12 points.

From the jump, both offenses came rearing to go with a combined 26 points within the first five minutes. LSU jumped out to an opening lead with three makes from beyond the arc, until the Rebels heated up from the field with five field goals in a row to grab its first lead at 18-16. Beating the buzzer from deep, the Tigers regained the lead and ended the first quarter, 26-23.

An and-one from Davis brought the Rebels even with LSU at 26, until a 6-0 run from the Tigers created more separation while Ole Miss entered a short scoring slump. Davis continued to shine, bringing the Rebels within five off  back-to-back buckets. LSU shot at a blistering clip beyond the arc, going 7-of-8 from downtown to lead 50-37 heading into halftime.

With the Rebel defense keeping LSU at bay, the duo of Davis and Scott went to work in the paint to chip away at the deficit. Finding its way to the charity stripe, Ole Miss managed to regain the lead at 53-52 midway through the third quarter to claw back from trailing by 13. A quick response from LSU with a 9-0 run put it back in the driver’s seat.

The Tigers remained in control with a 6-0 run to begin the fourth quarter to put the game out of the Rebels’ reach. Ole Miss came within nine as time dwindled, yet could not piece together another surge to take down LSU, ultimately falling 84-73.

Ole Miss is back in action on Thursday (Jan. 11), hosting the Auburn Tigers from the SJB Pavilion. Tip on SEC Network + is at 6:30 p.m.