No. 13 Ole Miss Women’s Basketball traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla., from Nov. 28-29 to take on Wisconsin and George Mason in the Coast 2 Coast Classic. The Lady Rebels won both games and took home the championship.
Wisconsin
Ole Miss snuck out a win in a back-and-forth contest against the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday, Nov. 28. The Lady Rebels came out on top with a 65-56 victory.
Lady Rebel forward Christeen Iwuala led all scorers with 20 points, and forward Cotie McMahon scored 11. The two forwards became the first pair of teammates to both score double digit points through the first six games of the season in the 21st century.
Eight Lady Rebels appeared in the game, and all of them scored.
The Lady Rebel defense was once again dominant. Ole Miss capitalized on nine steals from the Badgers and scored 30 points off turnovers.
Peterson has carved out a role for herself despite coming off the bench. She totaled four steals this game to build off her seven steals against Longwood. She scored 11 in this game, her second straight contest in double figures.
Peterson has found a way to contribute on this team — even though her role looks different than it did UCF, where she played last season.
“I’ve just been working on different mindsets,” Peterson said in the postgame press conference. “I (come) from a program where I have done more. (I) am learning my role and adjusting to my role to help the team win.”
One area of concern for Ole Miss going forward is consistency at the three point line. The Lady Rebels shot only 4-of-19 from beyond the arc.
At this point in the season, Ole Miss has attempted 136 three pointers but have only made 42.
Still, the Lady Rebels can take comfort in the fact that even when they do not shoot well, they can manage to win. In fact, it might be a good thing that the Lady Rebels have areas for improvement, especially this early in the season.
“We’re not playing our best basketball, but I love that we’re finding ways to win — very unique ways to win,” Ole Miss Women’s Basketball head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said in her postgame press conference. “I don’t think we’ll play our best basketball until February or March. No coach wants to play their best basketball in November. We just want to continue on a steady incline.”
George Mason
On day two of the Coast 2 Coast Classic, Ole Miss competed against the Patriots of George Mason University and came away with an 81-67 win.
Ole Miss jumped out to a hot start offensively. They got off to an early 12-0 lead and finished the first quarter with 16 points.
The Lady Rebels were much more intentional shooters in this game and did not waste many drives. They scored 19 points off Patriots turnovers and scored 14 points from put backs. They finished with a relatively low number of turnovers with nine.
All nine Lady Rebels who played put up at least two points. The Ole Miss bench scored 27 points.
This was yet another beastly showing by Iwuala. She tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds.
“She’s starting to play with that competitive swagger, and we’ve been asking her to do that,” McPhee-McCuin said in a postgame press conference. “(I am) excited about her, and I think she can do this every night. I also think Christeen should start getting on everybody’s draft boards.”
Along with Iwuala, three other Rebels had double digit points. Debreasha Powe and McMahon tallied 14 points during the matchup, and Latasha Lattimore scored 11.
After the first quarter, Ole Miss allowed the Patriots to linger for the majority of the game. They finally widened the point gap to 62-44 by the end of the third quarter, but in the final minutes, the Patriots gave the Lady Rebels a run for their money. With two minutes remaining, the Lady Rebels were only leading by 10 points, yet they held on for a 14 point win.
“It was like six minutes left, and we were up twenty and they were still fighting, kudos to (George Mason). It just shows their character,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I think we’ve been challenged, but this upcoming game will be a great challenge, and then we’ll either win or we’ll learn from it.”
What’s next?
The Lady Rebels will face Notre Dame in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion on Dec. 4 as part of the ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge. The game will broadcast on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. CST.
