Booker scores 19, No. 1 Texas holds on to defeat Ole Miss in SEC quarterfinals

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — All-America forward Madison Booker scored 19 points, and No. 1 Texas held on to beat Mississippi 70-63 on Friday night in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Kyla Oldacre scored 12 points and Shay Holle added 11 for Texas (30-2), which stretched its winning streak to 14 games.

The Longhorns, the tournament’s No. 2 seed after losing a coin flip to South Carolina, will play either Florida or No. 9 LSU in Saturday’s semifinals.

Getting there was tougher than expected.

Texas led by 15 early in the third quarter when Ole Miss went more than eight minutes without a field goal, missing 13 straight shots. But the Longhorns could not pull away and Kirsten Deans began to get hot from beyond the arc, helping the Rebels get within two with 4 1/2 minutes left.

Texas outscored Mississippi 10-5 to close the game.

Deans finished with 20 points to lead the Rebels (20-10), and Madison Scott had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Takeaways

Mississippi: The Rebels' poor shooting in the third quarter — 2 of 15 from the field — did them in.

Texas: The Longhorns held on without Booker for the final minute of the game. She picked up her fifth foul on a charge away from the basket.

Key moment

Ole Miss trailed by four with 1:26 left in the game when Sira Thienou's putback attempt rolled around the rim slowly twice before falling away. It proved to be a crucial miss.

Key stat

There were 53 fouls called in the game. Three players fouled out and six others finished with four fouls.

Up next

As Texas moves on in the SEC Tournament, Ole Miss awaits its NCAA Tournament fate.

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