Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. (11/04/2026) — The Ole Miss Rebels delivered a commanding 72-51 victory over the North Alabama Lions at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion on Wednesday, overcoming a competitive first half with a punishing 16-0 run in the fourth quarter that turned a manageable deficit into a rout.
Jada Richard led the Rebels with 17 points and five assists, while Jaida Civil added 15 points and six rebounds as Ole Miss demonstrated the balanced, multi-contributor attack that SEC competition will demand all season.
How It Happened
North Alabama refused to play the role of a passive opponent. Amy Kurkowski buried a three-pointer at the 7:47 mark of the first quarter to give the Lions a 5-3 lead, and moments later Venla Ulander drained a 25-footer — assisted by Emma D'este — to push North Alabama ahead 8-7. Ole Miss struggled early to establish its rhythm against an energized Lions squad.
North Alabama carried that confidence into the second quarter. Ulander connected again from deep in the opening minute, pushing the advantage to 17-11, and Kurkowski followed with another three to extend the Lions' lead to nine at 20-11. The visitors had rattled off a stretch of assertive three-point shooting and appeared intent on pulling an upset.
Ole Miss gradually clawed back. Doneelah Washington tied the game at 25-25 with a 24-foot three-pointer with 1:13 left in the first half — a steadying shot when the Rebels needed it most — but Kurkowski answered with a mid-range jumper to send North Alabama to halftime holding a 27-25 lead.
The third quarter belonged entirely to the Rebels. Jade Tillman knotted the game immediately with a layup at 9:25, and after North Alabama reclaimed a brief 31-30 edge on a Greta Ramon jumper, Talaysia Cooper swung the momentum with a 25-foot three-pointer to put Ole Miss ahead 33-31. The Rebels would never trail again, closing the period with a 51-39 advantage on a Jada Richard free throw.
Turning Point
With Ole Miss ahead 50-39 entering the fourth quarter, the Rebels came out and dismantled North Alabama with a 16-0 run that stretched the lead to 64-41 and emptied all remaining drama from the contest. Tillman scored on a turnaround jump shot, Washington added a layup off a Talaysia Cooper assist, and Richard capped the surge with a 24-foot three-pointer at the 6:44 mark. North Carolina recorded 30 turnovers on the night — more than double Ole Miss's 12 — and when the Lions could not generate stops, the Rebels converted possession after possession into points, turning a game that had been within reach for 30 minutes into an emphatic statement.
Star of the Game
Jada Richard was the engine of the Ole Miss offense from start to finish. The guard finished with 17 points and five assists, delivering clutch shot-making during the game's most decisive stretch while consistently creating for teammates. Her 24-foot three-pointer in the fourth quarter, assisted by Lauren Jacobs, was the punctuation mark on the decisive run.
Jaida Civil complemented Richard with 15 points and six rebounds, connecting from distance early to open scoring before finishing efficiently around the basket. Washington contributed 13 points and four assists, her second-quarter three-pointer to tie the game at 25-25 proving to be one of the most consequential shots of the night.
For North Alabama, Kurkowski produced 11 points on three three-pointers and D'este authored the Lions' most complete individual performance — nine points paired with 13 rebounds. Ramon distributed six assists and kept the half-court offense functional, but the Lions' 30 turnovers made sustained offensive momentum impossible to maintain.
What It Means
The 21-point final margin understates how competitive this game was for the better part of three quarters. North Alabama came into Oxford playing organized basketball and held a lead as late as the final minute of the first half. What ultimately separated the two programs was ball security: Ole Miss's 12 turnovers versus North Alabama's 30 created a possession gap that proved insurmountable.
For the Rebels, the victory reinforces the depth of a rotation that can absorb a slow start, weather a first-half deficit, and still produce a decisive outcome. The 2,326 fans inside The Sandy and John Black Pavilion saw a team that knows how to close — a quality that matters considerably more as SEC play approaches.
