NASHVILLE — Ole Miss’ women’s basketball team reached a milestone at the expense of its biggest rival.

The Rebels scored 20 points off of 21 turnovers and did not trail in the second half as it beat Mississippi State 85-73 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday.

Ole Miss (20-9) advanced to face No. 2 seed Texas (29-2) in the quarterfinals Friday at 5 p.m. on the SEC Network. Ole Miss also reached the 20-win mark for the fourth consecutive season, a feat it had not achieved since doing it 11 times in a row from 1981-92.

Ole Miss is projected to host an NCAA Tournament regional later this month. A win over Texas would certainly help its case.

“I say it every year. We get better and better and better each and every year. We grow and improve each and every year under (coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin), under her vision. There’s no ceilings to what we can do,” Ole Miss guard Madison Scott said. “The opportunity to host in Oxford, in front of the Oxford community, means everything to us. That’s why we gave everything in this game. We wanted it to be an opportunity we could go after. We’re just excited to continue to attack, continue to get wins in March, continue to dance.”

In both matchups this season, Ole Miss forced Mississippi State (21-11) into more than 20 turnovers. Ole Miss also blocked eight shots in Thursday’s game, with six players having at least one.

The Rebels used a 7-0 burst over the last two minutes of the first half to take a 42-35 into halftime, and never let the lead slip in the last two quarters. Mississippi State missed two shots and had three turnovers — all steals — during that stretch.

Kennedy Todd-Williams and Madison Scott led Ole Miss with 20 points apiece. Todd-Williams also had seven rebounds. Sira Thienou added 13 points and Christeen Iwuala scored 11.

Jerkaila Jordan and Madina Okot scored 14 points apiece for Mississippi State, and Chandler Prater and Eniya Russell had 10 each. Okot also grabbed 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season.

“Every basket matters, every possession matters in a game that you turned it over 21 times,” Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said. “We go 5-for-14 from the three-point line. You miss six throws free throw. We have to make sure we stay in the gym and get stops. We scored enough points, but didn’t get enough stops tonight.”

SEC WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
At Nashville, Tenn.
March 5
Tennessee 77, Texas A&M 37
Georgia 79, Arkansas 74
Mississippi State 75, Missouri 55
Florida 60, Auburn 50
March 6
Vanderbilt 84, Tennessee 76
Oklahoma 70, Georgia 52
Ole Miss 85, Mississippi State 73
Florida 63, Alabama 61
March 7
Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Oklahoma vs. Kentucky, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Ole Miss vs. Texas, 5 p.m. (SEC Network)
Florida vs. LSU, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
March 8
Semifinals
Vanderbilt-South Carolina winner vs. Oklahoma-Kentucky winner, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Ole Miss-Texas winner vs. Florida-LSU winner, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
March 9
Championship game, 2 p.m. (ESPN)