OXFORD, Miss. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team played to the wire at Ole Miss on Sunday, Nov. 18 as the Rebels held on in the final minutes to down the Broncos 69-66.

In the first ever meeting between the Broncos and Rebels, Western Michigan erased an 11-point first half deficit and shot 40 percent from the field in the second half to finish within three points of SEC opponent Ole Miss. 

Deja Wimby led the Broncos with 17 points off the bench along with a team-high eight rebounds, shooting 6-for-16 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 at the charity stripe. Leighah-Amori Wool followed with 13 points and two blocks. Meredith Miller, Jasmyn Walker, and Nina Farkic each added eight points. 

The Brown & Gold finished the contest with a 38.2 field goal percentage, converting a season-high 26 field goals along with a season-high 16 assists. 

The Broncos jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with a Farkic jumper just over two minutes in. The Rebels answered with a 10-2 run which was then followed by a 7-2 WMU run, finished with a Wimby layup to tie the game at 16-16 with 2:39 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Ole Miss closed out the first frame with a 23-18 lead. 

The home team extended its lead to double digits early into the second quarter and maintained a lead throughout the first half. Ole Miss grabbed its largest lead of the half with 1:15 remaining to claim a 40-25 advantage.

At the half, WMU trailed 40-29 while shooting 12-for-33 from the field. While the Broncos shot just 2-for-14 from beyond the arc, they were strong down low outscoring the Rebels 18-16 in the paint.

Western Michigan opened the second half on a 12-4 run five minutes in. Miller notched WMU's first three-pointer since the first quarter and added a fast break layup to put the Broncos within three points at 44-41.

WMU regained its first lead since the first quarter with Miller's second consecutive three-pointer, giving the Broncos a 46-44 lead with 2:48 remaining in the third. The Broncos then closed out the third quarter with a jumper at the buzzer by Wool to lead 50-49 heading into the final frame. WMU shot 50 percent from field in the third quarter, going 9-for-18.

The Rebels outscored the Broncos 20-16 during an exciting final 10 minutes. Maddie Watters opened the fourth quarter with her second three-pointer of the game to give WMU 53-49 advantage, its largest lead of the game. However, Ole Miss answered with an 8-0 run to take a 57-53 lead to force a Bronco timeout with 7:07 left on the game clock.

Ole Miss held on to a slim lead for the final seven minutes while the Broncos came close several times. With 33 seconds remaining, Logan McCane subbed into the game and nailed a clutch three-pointer to put WMU within two at 66-64. She then added a layup to put the Broncos down 67-66 with 13 seconds remaining. The Rebels' top scorer Crystal Allen went 2-for-2 at the free throw line to seal the win. 

The Broncos, now 1-3 overall, return to action next Wednesday, Nov. 28, hosting Eastern Kentucky at University Arena.