With the Party in the Pavilion on Tuesday, Ole Miss basketball is officially underway. In her seventh season as head coach, Yolett McPhee-McCuin looks to steer the 20th-ranked Lady Rebs to another strong performance.
“I’m very grateful to play in the Southeastern Conference,” McPhee-McCuin said at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 16. “I have an immense amount of joy about being the head coach at the University of Mississippi, and we look forward to having a hopeful and healthy season.”
Last season, Ole Miss finished with a 24-9 regular season record, earning third place in the SEC and a seven seed in the postseason NCAA tournament. The Lady Rebels beat Marquette in the Round of 64 but lost to Notre Dame in the Round of 32.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the women’s basketball program at Ole Miss. The team has qualified for the postseason tournament 20 times and advanced to the Elite Eight five times.
Ashton Hopp, special assistant to McPhee-McCuin, has been with Ole Miss Women’s Basketball for three seasons and looks forward to spending her fourth celebrating 50 years of the Lady Rebels.
“I think it’s super cool to see the tradition,” Hopp said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian. “… and to really honor all of the legends and the women and the men, the coaches and the players that came before us. … We aren’t where we’re at as Team 50 without the people before us.”
This year, McPhee-McCuin loses all-SEC wing Marquesha Davis, who averaged 14 points per game last season. Additionally, center Rita Igbokwe, who averaged 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game, graduated in the spring.
But the Lady Rebels are bringing back several key players, including guards Madison Scott and Kennedy Todd-Williams and forward Kharyssa Richardson. Additionally, KK Deans — perhaps the best shooter on the roster — will be back after missing most of last season. Ole Miss will have experience, leadership and talent, priming the team for a deep tournament run come March.
Ole Miss will start out tough with an AP Top-25 matchup against No. 3 Southern California in the Aflac Oui-Play in Paris.
Trojan guard Juju Watkins is an early frontrunner for the National Player of the Year Award, and she is joined by the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.
“We’re the first premiere game (on) Nov. 4,” Hopp said. “I think the outlook is humble, hungry, and we’re going to go out there and be dogs, and we’re going to go out there and seize the opportunity.”
After that, the Rebels face No. 9 NC State, a Final Four team last season, in the ACC-SEC challenge. The week of Thanksgiving, the Rebels travel to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Women’s Championship. If they beat Boston College in the opening round, they have the opportunity to play a powerhouse program like No. 2 ranked UConn. Either way, the Lady Rebels should escape the non-conference schedule in solid shape.
“I’d rather have our players have a chance to dive into the competitive space before we get to what I call ‘the baby WNBA,’ which is the SEC,” McPhee-McCuin said.
On Jan. 2, the Rebels open conference play in Auburn, Ala., against Auburn. In the middle of the month, they play No. 24 Alabama. Two games later, after another home game against Florida, the Rebels head south to face rival Mississippi State. Though the Bulldogs are unranked, this could prove to be a trap game for the Rebels.
A week later, the Rebels return to Oxford to play No. 4 Texas — the new team on the block in the SEC. The Longhorns are coming off an Elite Eight performance during which they were without one of their best players, guard Rori Harmon. With guard Laila Phelia — Michigan’s leading scorer last season — transferring in, the Longhorns should be a formidable team.
In February, Ole Miss will face a slew of tough opponents, most notably No. 22 Kentucky, No. 10 Oklahoma, and to close out the month, defending National Champions No. 1 South Carolina. The Gamecocks have claimed the national title in two of the past three seasons and bring back high-profile guards Raven Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley and others.
An early March away game against No. 7 LSU marks the end of the regular season. Afterward comes the SEC tournament, and the Rebels hope to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. With so many experienced players and such strong coaching, Ole Miss should impress this year.
