GREENVILLE, S.C. — Madison Booker scored 31 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and added five assists to carry No. 4 Texas past No. 24 Ole Miss 85-68 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals Saturday.
The Longhorns used a strong fourth quarter to pull away and secure a spot in the conference title game for the second consecutive year. They will face No. 3 South Carolina in a rematch of last year’s final, which South Carolina won 64-45.
Kyla Oldacre contributed 19 points and eight rebounds for Texas (30-3). Ole Miss (23-11) was led by Cotie McMahon and Denim DeShields, who each scored 20 points. Ole Miss was outscored 28-13 in the fourth quarter, after mounting a late rally in the third quarter.
The Rebels reached the semifinals with an upset over No. 5 Vanderbilt, jumping out to a 23-2 lead and leading by 32 in the third quarter before holding off a late Commodores rally. On Saturday, Ole Miss started slowly, trailing by 16 at halftime after Texas built the lead with a 12-0 run in the first half and outscored Ole Miss 30-14 in the paint.
Ole Miss trimmed the deficit to two points entering the fourth quarter after Denim DeShields hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer. But Booker took over in the final period, making 5 of 6 shots and scoring 13 points, including a key three with two minutes remaining that put Texas up by 12. Ole Miss shot 5 of 14 in the fourth and missed all five of its three-point attempts.
Ole Miss awaits NCAA Tournament seeding while Texas prepares for the championship game against South Carolina, a team they split with during the regular season. Texas defeated South Carolina 66-64 in November but lost 68-65 at South Carolina in January.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
