OXFORD, Miss. - Mississippi Valley State University women's basketball opened the 2019-20 season at Ole Miss and suffered a 72-53 loss on Tuesday.

Key Game Stats

• Ole Miss shot 44.8 percent (30-67) from the field compared to 34.6 percent (18-52) by MVSU. 
• The Devilettes were outscored 21-6 in the second quarter after leading by five at the end of the first quarter.
• MVSU went 12-for-22 on free-throws while Ole Miss was held to 7-of-14 attempts. 
• Ayonna Cotten had a team-high 14 points making 3-of-7 three-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws in 22 minutes played.
• Erin Smith reached double figure scoring with 10. She made a pair of three-pointers shooting 4-of-7 from the field against the Rebels.
• Shelli Thigpen finished with nine points hitting all three of her shots from the field.
• Diamond Wraggs recorded a team-high five rebounds while scoring five points and Angelica Darcus led the bench scoring with six points.
• Ole Miss' Taylor Smith scored a game-high 18 points, Deja Cage chipped in 16 points off the bench, and Torri Lewis added 11 points.
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How It Happened

• Cotten started her evening with three consecutive three-pointers giving MVSU an early 9-2 lead.
• Ole Miss battled back and too a 10-9 advantage after the Devilettes went scoreless for over four minutes.
• Cotten finished the first quarter with 11 points helping MVSU to a 17-12 advantage.
• The Rebels went on a 7-0 run at the beginning of the second quarter taking a 19-17 lead forcing a MVSU timeout at the 7:37 mark.
• Thigpen split a pair of free-throws at 4:46 to end the Ole miss run. On the next play, she forced a turnover and then Darcus took it coast-to-coast for a layup.
• MVSU struggled with only two made field goals in the second quarter as Ole Miss outscored them 21-6 carrying a 33-23 lead into halftime. 
• Ole Miss kept a double-digit lead for the majority of the third quarter. Smith knocked in back-to-back three-pointers trimming the deficit to 49-36 with 3:28 remaining in the third.
• The Devilettes kept within distance off of five made field goals to go along with five free-throws.

Up Next

• The Devilettes travel to North Alabama on Saturday, Nov. 9 for a 4 p.m. matchup.