Lady Dogs rally to beat Ole Miss on the road

OXFORD, Miss. -- Jasmine James scored 19 points, and No. 24 Georgia rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Mississippi 61-56 on Sunday.

Jasmine Hassell added 17 points for the Lady Bulldogs (19-6, 9-3 SEC). Porsha Phillips had just two points in the first half, but scored nine after halftime.

"I thought Porsha made two of the biggest plays of the game," Georgia coach Andy Landers. "Rebounds, points and a great, great alley-oop into a layup. She was terrific."

Georgia wasted no time chipping away at Ole Miss' 31-25 halftime lead, outscoring the Lady Rebels 13-7 to open the second half.

During one second-half stretch, Ole Miss missed 10 of 12 shots.

"They just upped the intensity and forced turnovers at inopportune moments," coach Renee Ladner said. "Our effort was outstanding, but people are going to make runs and you have to match the intensity."

Freshman Valencia McFarland had 15 points and Maggie McFerrin added a career-high 12 for Ole Miss (10-14, 3-9).

Lady Rebels freshman Shae Nelson had a chance to tie the game with seven seconds remaining, but her 3-point attempt hit the iron and bounced out. The same play lifted Ole Miss to a 66-65 win in Athens, last season.

James is from Memphis, Tenn., about 80 miles from Oxford.