Jada Richard Scores 17 as No. 19 Ole Miss Forces 30 Turnovers and Pulls Away From North Alabama 72-51

OXFORD, Miss. For 20 minutes, No. 19 Ole Miss could not buy a basket and North Alabama had the Rebels looking up at the scoreboard. Then the defense did what it does under Yolett McPhee-McCuin, the shots started falling, and a two-point halftime deficit turned into a 72-51 win on Thursday, Nov. 5, at The SJB Pavilion.

Jada Richard led Ole Miss with 17 points, five assists and four steals. Jaida Civil added 15 points and six rebounds, and Doneelah Washington scored 13 on 6-of-7 shooting. The Rebels forced 30 North Alabama turnovers, came up with 15 steals, and won the second half 47-24 to move to 2-0. North Alabama fell to 0-2.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab) and Ole Miss' recap (opens in a new tab).

The Lions come out swinging

North Alabama arrived in Oxford having lost its opener at Mississippi State 68-27, according to the AP, and it played like a team with something to prove. Civil opened the scoring with a 3, and Ole Miss led 7-5 early, but the Lions answered with a 5-0 run and kept hitting. By the first media timeout they were shooting 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep, per Ole Miss, and they took a 14-11 lead into the second quarter.

The Lions opened the second with back-to-back 3s. Richard kept Ole Miss close with consecutive layups and seven points in the period, but the Rebels shot just 32 percent in the first half, according to the AP. North Alabama went to the locker room up 27-25.

The early problem for Ole Miss was simple. Shots near the rim were not dropping, and the half-court offense kept stalling. North Alabama finished with 36 rebounds to Ole Miss' 29, and Emma D'Este was a big reason, pulling down 13 boards to go with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Twenty-six in the third

Everything flipped after halftime. Ole Miss shot 68 percent in the second half, according to the AP, and scored 14 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, per the school. Talaysia Cooper hit a 3 early in the period that made it 33-31, and Ole Miss never trailed again.

Knisha Godfrey then gave the Rebels a spark off the bench. Godfrey scored on consecutive trips to make it 41-38 with 3:21 left in the third, and finished 3 of 3 from the field with five assists. Civil went to the line four times during a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to 48-38, and the Rebels closed the quarter with the last three points to lead 51-39. Ole Miss won the third 26-12.

The difference was in the paint. Ole Miss scored 16 points there in the first half and roughly double that after the break, according to the AP. Once the Rebels started forcing turnovers, the easy baskets followed.

The run that ended it

The fourth quarter belonged to Ole Miss from the opening possession. Combined with the end of the third, the Rebels scored 16 unanswered points, including the first 13 of the fourth, to stretch the lead to 64-39 midway through the period. Washington scored four early in the quarter and added a block during the burst, per Ole Miss.

North Alabama never got back within 20. The Lions scored 12 points in the fourth, matching their third-quarter output, and Ole Miss used 10 players on the night.

Turnovers tell the story

Thirty turnovers is the number that defines this game. North Alabama gave the ball away 30 times, and Ole Miss came up with 15 steals, with Richard collecting four and Washington and Maya Anderson three each. Ole Miss, meanwhile, committed just 12 turnovers and handed out 22 assists on 30 made baskets.

That is what separates the Rebels from the teams on their nonconference schedule. North Alabama actually shot the ball well enough to stay in it. The Lions made 20 of 49 shots, 40.8 percent, and hit 5 of 15 from 3. They won the rebounding battle. They simply could not keep the ball long enough to get shots up. Amy Kurkowski led North Alabama with 11 points but committed five turnovers, and Maria Stefancova also had five.

Ole Miss shot 48.4 percent for the game (30 of 62) despite a rough first half. The Rebels were not sharp from deep (4 of 14) or at the line (8 of 17), and Richard missed six of 10 free throws. On a night when the defense creates 30 extra possessions, those misses do not hurt. Against an SEC opponent, they will.

Richard was the most complete player on the floor, making 6 of 13 shots, setting up teammates with five assists and adding four steals in 28 minutes. Civil, who scored 17 in the opener against Alcorn State, made 5 of 13 shots and was 4 of 6 at the line, though Civil also picked up four fouls in 23 minutes.

Washington was the efficiency story. Six of seven from the field, including a 3, plus four assists, three steals and two blocks in 27 minutes. That is a stat line that does a little of everything, and it showed up in the second-half surge.

The bench was a big part of the comeback. Godfrey's 26 minutes produced six points, five assists and two steals without a missed shot. Cooper struggled from the field at 2 of 10 but still found ways to help, with four assists, three blocks and the go-ahead 3. Lauren Jacobs scored six in 13 minutes, and Jade Tillman added six on 3-of-4 shooting as a starter.

For North Alabama, Venla Ulander hit two 3s for eight points, Greta Ramon dished out six assists, and Brynn Lusby scored six off the bench. Ella Macleod went 1 of 1 from 3 and 2 of 2 at the line for five points in 10 minutes.

What it means

Ole Miss is 2-0 and has now won its first two games by a combined 63 points, following an 80-38 opening win over Alcorn State in which the Rebels forced 26 turnovers. The pattern is clear. This is a team that wins with its defense first, and when the offense is sputtering, the pressure keeps it in games until the shots come.

The first half against North Alabama is the warning label. Trailing at home to a team that lost by 41 in its opener is not ideal, and better opponents will make Ole Miss pay for a 32 percent half. The response after halftime, though, was exactly what a ranked team should produce.

For North Alabama, there were real positives to take from a second straight road trip into the SEC. After managing 27 points at Mississippi State, the Lions nearly doubled that output, led at halftime and won the battle on the glass. D'Este's 13 rebounds in 35 minutes were the best rebounding line of the night on either side, and Kurkowski played 35 minutes as the main shot creator. The next step is ball security. Eleven of the 13 Lions who played committed at least one turnover, and that kind of spread points to pressure, not one player having a bad night.

Next up, Ole Miss hosts UAlbany on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at The SJB Pavilion.

The closing take

This was a game Ole Miss did not play well for a half and still won by 21. That says a lot about the floor this team has. The Rebels turned 30 turnovers into a comfortable night, got balanced scoring from Richard, Civil and Washington, and found a bench spark in Godfrey and Cooper. The shooting will need to sharpen before the SEC slate arrives. The defense already looks ready.

Sources: ESPN, AP, Ole Miss Athletics (olemisssports.com).

Photo: Ole Miss Athletics.