Ole Miss Women’s Basketball opened their season with a monster 87-46 win over Norfolk State at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion on Monday, Nov. 3.
First quarter
For the first game back, Ole Miss rolled out Sira Thienou, Kaitlin Peterson, Latasha Lattimore, Christeen Iwuala and Cotie McMahon for the starting five. The Rebels started the game off a little
slow. Lattimore and McMahon both had nice threes, and Thienou had a nice assist to Peterson; however, the team struggled to score, going 3-10 from the field and 2-4 from three-point range.
The Ole Miss defense forced three turnovers and led 9-8 going into the first timeout.
Coach McPhee-McCuin decided to make some adjustments after the break, subbing Debreasha Powe and Tianna Thompson into the game. That decision proved to be worth it, with Powe hitting back-to-back shots on a 3-pointer and a mid-range shot.
Their abilities shone off the bench. Thompson proved her worth with a 3-pointer and Powe hit her second shot from beyond the arch of the day to put the Rebels up 20-16. Right as the quarter was about to end, Iwuala hit a buzzer-beater layup to take a six-point lead, 22-16, going into the second.
“We went and got 12 players that we felt can help us, and I just believe in all of them that much,” McPhee-McCuin said. “And so as much as I can, I want to be able to play them and work on different rotations.”
Second quarter
The Rebels started with the ball in the second quarter. McMahon and Thienou came back after the timeout, and Lauren Jacobs made her first appearance as a true freshman.
“She’s just really competitive, really mature. She’s fearless. She doesn’t take plays off,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Still learning a lot, but she’s being brought along really with the upperclassmen.”
The visitors fouled Iwuala on a layup for a 3-point play early in the quarter. Good ball movement led Peterson to get a basket, and Jacobs got her first career bucket off a tough layup, giving the Rebels a 29-18 lead going into a Norfolk State timeout.
Following the timeout, Norfolk State immediately hit a mid-range shot, and McMahon quickly answered with a 3-pointer. Lattimore right away got fouled for her second time of the day and hit both free throws to give the Rebels a comfortable 34-20 lead.
After Ole Miss seemed to have found its groove, there was a bit of back-and-forth between the two teams with no scoring.
Peterson ended that after a foul, then Thienou, off an offensive rebound, hit a dagger three-pointer to put the Rebels up 40-25 going into halftime.
Third quarter
For the first time since the first quarter, Thienou, Peterson, Lattimore, Iwuala and McMahon were all on the court together. This brought back some of the scoring problems from the first, but Thienou refired the offense.
After the timeout, Deshields and Thompson subbed in and quickly made an impact. Thompson hit a 3 pointer and Powe made another mid-range shot before the second timeout of the half. Coach Yo went with a new lineup: Murray, Jacobs, Peterson, McMahon and Iwuala all checked into the game.
Fourth quarter
To open the fourth, Iwuala made another layup. McMahon hit a tough 3-point shot through contact, which led to a 4-point play and put the Rebels up 66-32. Iwuala added another layup and secured player of the game honors as Ole Miss dominated, prompting Norfolk State to call their third timeout down 73-34.
Right after the timeout, Jacobs made her debut even better with a tough layup through contact and DeShields drained a wide-open 3-pointer. Young made her first couple shots of the game, a layup assisted by Iwuala and a mid-range shot assisted by DeShields, which made the score 82-41 late in the fourth.
Ole Miss won in dominant fashion 87-46.
What’s next?
Ole Miss Women’s Basketball travels to Huntsville, Ala., to take on Alabama A&M on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
