Verhulst scores 10 of her 19 in the 4th, No. 15 Oklahoma women beat Ole Miss 66-56

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Payton Verhulst scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, Sahara Williams added 14 points and No. 15 Oklahoma used a 12-2 closing run to beat Mississippi 66-56 on Thursday night.

Oklahoma (17-6, 5-5 SEC) has lost back-to-back games (for the first time this season) and three of its last four.

Kennedy Todd-Williams made a layup that tied it 54-all with 3:50 to play but Nevaeh Tot made 1 of 2 free throws 11 seconds later. Verhulst added a layup and a 3-pointer before Williams hit two foul shots, stole the ball, was fouled as she made a layup and the and-1 free throw to make it 65-56 with 56 seconds remaining.

Madison Scott hit a jumper almost three minutes into the fourth quarter that gave the Rebels their biggest lead at 51-44. Verhulst answered with a jumper, Lexy Key followed with a 3-pointer and Verhulst added a three-point play to put Oklahoma back in front about two minutes later.

Starr Jacobs led Ole Miss (15-7, 6-4) with 15 points and Christeen Iwuala added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Williams hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play to spark a 15-4 run to close the first quarter that gave the Sooners a 24-9 lead. Ole Miss scored 10 of the last 12 to trim its deficit to 31-29 at halftime.

Scott matched Peggie Gillom (1976-80) — the program’s career leader in points (2,486) and rebounds (1,271) — for most games played at Ole Miss with 144.

Oklahoma takes on Auburn at home on Monday. Ole Miss plays host to No. 11 Kentucky on Monday.

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