In its final regular season contest, the Ole Miss Lady Rebels took on the Alabama Crimson Tide in a game for all the marbles. This was no ordinary SEC matchup, as the winner would hold the rights to the No. 4 seed in the SEC tournament, thus securing the highly sought-after double bye.
Since Ole Miss clinched a top-four spot for the tournament, it gets to sit and watch while the 12 and 13 seeds battle to see who plays the five seed. The winner of the game between the five seed and the 12 or 13 seed would advance to face off against the Lady Rebels.
This extended rest period is precisely why the Rebel’s game against Alabama was so important.
Ole Miss lost its previous matchup to the Tide 63-58 at home in January, so the Lady Rebels had revenge on their mind as they traveled to Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss came in with its win-or-go-home mindset, which paid dividends, especially for senior guard Marquesha Davis.
She left her mark on this game by dropping 26 points on 67% from the field and shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Davis led the game in scoring, but her teammates Madison Scott and Angel Baker chipped in 10 points each to supplement the rest of the offense.
The Rebels did not shoot well from beyond the arc, shooting just under 13%, so Ole Miss turned to other forms of production to rally past Alabama. Most notably, Ole Miss outrebounded the Tide 39 to 32.
Pittsburgh transfer Rita Igbokwe led the Rebels with 10 rebounds, followed by Tiya Singleton, who finished the game with seven rebounds. Singleton also finished the game with an astonishing seven blocks as the anchor of the Ole Miss defense.
This win against Alabama means that Ole Miss finishes the regular season 22-7 with an SEC record of 11-5. The Rebels also finished the season on a very strong note, despite the losses to LSU and South Carolina.
Dating back to Feb. 5, Ole Miss beat Florida and Kentucky quite handily. Then when matched up against two of the best teams in the country, LSU and South Carolina, the Rebels only lost by a combined score of 16, which is impressive compared to how those two teams fared against the rest of the conference.
Head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin has her squad playing its best basketball at just the right time, so it will be interesting to see whether her team’s phenomenal play will carry over into the SEC tournament.
The tournament starts on Wednesday, March 1, but Ole Miss will not play until Friday, March 3. The tournament will take place in Greenville, S.C.
