Jaida Civil Scores 17 as No. 19 Ole Miss Forces 26 Turnovers in 80-38 Opener Over Alcorn State

OXFORD, Miss. Ole Miss spent the offseason rebuilding its roster. On opening night, the new group looked like it had been practicing turnovers into layups for months. The No. 19 Rebels forced 26 turnovers, turned them into 33 points and beat Alcorn State 80-38 on Monday, Nov. 2, at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion.

Guard Jaida Civil led the way with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in 33 minutes. Jada Richard and Jade Tillman scored 14 apiece, and Tillman added 11 rebounds off the bench for a double-double. The Lady Braves never led, and the margin peaked at 44 points late in the fourth quarter.

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

A slow start that never got close

For one quarter, this looked more like a scrimmage than a blowout. Ole Miss opened with six straight points, with Doneelah Washington and Talaysia Cooper each finishing in transition, and Alcorn State answered to make it 6-4. From there the offense sputtered. The Rebels scored just 10 points in the first 10 minutes and led only 10-6 after one, leaning on steals from Civil and the rest of the defense to keep the visitors from getting anything easy.

The second quarter is where the gap opened. Cooper, a preseason watch list name for both the Naismith Trophy and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, opened the period with a jumper and then a 3. Richard followed with seven points and two assists in the quarter, and the lead stretched to 12. Tillman and Rachael Okokoh scored late in the half, and Ole Miss went to the locker room up 36-19 after a 26-13 quarter.

Alcorn State never found an answer after that. The Rebels won the third quarter 21-10 behind more of the same: Okokoh stripped a ball loose and Civil finished on the other end, and Lauren Jacobs and Cooper added more fast-break points. It was 57-29 entering the fourth.

The fourth quarter belonged to the bench

With the outcome settled, Ole Miss let its reserves finish the job, and they did it with a flourish. Maya Anderson and Knisha Godfrey hit back to back 3s during a 16-2 run that pushed the score to 79-35, the 44-point lead that matched the night's widest gap. The Lady Braves scored nine points in the final quarter and turned it over nine times, according to Ole Miss.

Ten Rebels played, and everyone who checked in for more than a few minutes contributed something. The bench outscored Alcorn State's reserves 26-13, with Tillman providing the bulk of it. Jacobs had four points, three rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes. Godfrey added five points and four rebounds in 15 minutes, and Anderson hit a 3 in 11 minutes. Charleen Hudson played three minutes.

Jade Tillman and the glass

Civil was the steadiest player on the floor, but Tillman was the most efficient. Tillman made 4 of 5 shots, went 6 of 8 at the free throw line and pulled down 11 rebounds, four on the offensive end, in 22 minutes. It was the third double-double of Tillman's career, per Ole Miss.

That rebounding effort was the second clear edge for Ole Miss after the turnovers. The Rebels won the boards 48-28 and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, which is more than two-thirds of Alcorn State's total rebounds. Okokoh was a big part of that. The starting forward had eight rebounds, six of them offensive, plus eight points and three steals.

Washington made the biggest impact at the other end. Doneelah Washington blocked seven shots in 22 minutes, and Ole Miss finished with nine blocks as a team. Add the 14 steals and the Rebels ended a lot of Alcorn State possessions before a shot ever went up, or right after one did.

The numbers that told the story

The cleanest way to read this game is to look at what each team did with the ball.

Alcorn State turned it over 26 times. Ole Miss turned it over 14. The Rebels scored 33 points off those mistakes, while the Lady Braves scored five off Ole Miss turnovers. Ole Miss had a 30-7 edge in fast-break points and a 38-26 advantage in the paint.

Ole Miss also lived at the line. The Rebels went 19 of 26 on free throws, while Alcorn State attempted only 10 and made seven. Ole Miss committed only nine fouls all night, compared with 20 for the visitors.

That combination covered up an off night from deep. Ole Miss made just 5 of 23 3-point attempts, 21.7 percent. Richard was 1 of 5, Cooper 1 of 4 and Jacobs 0 for 3. Washington went 0 for 3. The Rebels shot 42.4 percent overall, which was fine against this opponent, but the perimeter shooting is the piece to watch as the schedule hardens.

Richard got 14 the hard way, going 4 of 12 from the field and 5 of 5 at the line with three assists. Cooper had nine points on 4 of 9 shooting in 22 minutes.

Alcorn State's long night

The SWAC visitors shot 31.3 percent from the field and made just 1 of 12 3s. Jae'la Smith and Jada Morgan led them with eight points each. Morgan made all four free throw attempts but also committed six of the team's turnovers. Lauren Nelson and Chrishunti Walker added six points apiece, with Nelson handing out four assists and Walker grabbing four rebounds. Dekyra Mitchell had three steals and four rebounds but went 0 for 7 from the field.

The Lady Braves did win some battles. Alcorn State had 11 steals and stayed within 10-6 through one quarter. But a team that commits 26 turnovers and shoots 8 percent from 3 has no realistic path against a ranked SEC opponent, and this one never really had a chance after halftime.

Alcorn State's only win in this series came in 1980, and Ole Miss has won every meeting since, according to AP. AP also noted that Ole Miss is 102-7 all time against SWAC teams, including 23-0 under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin.

What it means for Ole Miss

The Rebels were picked seventh in the SEC's preseason poll after adding 10 transfers, per AP, so the opener was about learning who fits where as much as it was about the result. The early answers are encouraging. Civil handled the most minutes and filled every column. Richard and Cooper gave the backcourt two more scorers. Okokoh, Washington and Tillman gave Ole Miss length and toughness inside, and the defense produced more than enough offense on its own.

The minutes also hinted at how McPhee-McCuin may lean early. No Rebel played more than Civil's 33, six others logged between 20 and 27, and the ball was spread across 16 assists on 28 made baskets. That kind of balance matters for a team still sorting out roles, because it gives the staff real game film on every combination it might use in SEC play.

The concerns are fair ones for a game like this. The first quarter was ragged, and the 3-point shooting has to improve against teams that do not hand over 26 possessions.

Ole Miss moved to 1-0 in front of 8,412 fans on Kids Day, and Alcorn State fell to 0-1. The Rebels went on to beat North Alabama 72-51 on Nov. 5, then slipped two spots to No. 21 in the Nov. 9 AP poll. They host UAlbany on Wednesday, Nov. 11, and Louisiana Tech on Sunday, Nov. 15, before a Nov. 18 trip to No. 17 Ohio State for the first real test of the season. Alcorn State was scheduled to host Mississippi University for Women next.

For more on the Rebels, visit our Ole Miss team page.

Sources: ESPN box score, Ole Miss Athletics, AP.

Photo: Ole Miss Athletics.