The Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team opened SEC play against Georgia on Jan. 1 in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion with a win. Then they went to Austin, Texas and took a close loss against the No. 2 team in the country in the Texas Longhorns.
Georgia
The No. 15 Lady Rebels started conference play off right with a 79-62 win over the Georgia Bulldogs.
The first quarter was a tight back-and-forth game with neither team able to seize control.
Christeen Iwuala made the first bucket for the Rebels, but it was Cotie McMahon who added seven points in the first quarter that set the tone for the Rebels offense.
The Bulldogs clawed back from their four point deficit in the first quarter with a couple three-pointers and well placed shots. The Rebels ended the half ahead of the Bulldogs, 34-33.
Ole Miss came back from the break strong, and found their groove in the third quarter. They shot 56% from the field and put up 28 points to open up a gap and seize a 62-48 lead with one quarter to play.
Once the Rebels had the lead, they could not be stopped. They increased their lead in the final quarter, largely thanks to an impressive performance from the charity stripe. The Rebels went 13-of-16 (81.3%) from the free throw line in the fourth quarter alone, and were 24-of-28 overall in the game.
Led by McMahon, who ended with 24 points, the Rebels won the game 79-62. In addition, the Rebels had five different players, McMahon included, who had double-digit figures point totals.
McMahon extended her streak of at least 10 points in each Ole Miss game this season. Should McMahon continue her point streak into the next game, she would tie Nikki Byrd’s record from the 2011-12 season of 17 consecutive games with double-digit points.
In addition, the contest also marked the first SEC game for McMahon, who transferred from Ohio State. When asked in the postgame press conference how she handled the game, she remarked that there were some minor changes.
“It was definitely a lot more physical, but other than that basketball is basketball,” McMahon said. “If you want to be a great basketball player, you have to know how to play through contact.”
The Rebels soundly beat Georgia, and head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said in the postgame press conference that they were ready for the Bulldogs and any opportunities that presented themselves.
“If you got a shot, knock it down. If you have a look, make the look,” coach Yo said. “We wanted to start off fresh for us. We’re going to take everything one game at a time.”
Texas
The Lady Rebels (14-3, 1-1 SEC) lost to No. 2 Texas (17-0, 2-0 SEC) 67-64 on Sunday, Jan. 4. McMahon led the team with 19 points; the Lady Rebels rallied back from a 14-point halftime deficit but were unable to win.
The Longhorns led 21-17 at the end of the first quarter. Texas attacked the short corner and low post; the forwards set screens to get guards open. Guard Jordan Lee knocked down a three-pointer and multiple jumpers. She finished the quarter with nine points.
Longhorns point guard Rori Harmon, who has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in DI and has the most assists in Texas program history, finished the quarter with five assists. One of these came on a fast break after she stole the ball from McMahon.
The Lady Rebels were sloppy; they turned the ball over four times. They jumped to an 8-4 lead after a steal and layup by guard Sira Thienou on a full-court press, but the Longhorns then went on an 11-2 run.
The Lady Rebels had success in the mid-range. Thienou and guard Debreasha Powe both connected on jump shots from the elbow. They caught back up and finished the quarter down by only four.
In the second quarter, the Ole Miss offense was out of sorts. They failed to create clean shots and often had to rely on desperate heaves late in the shot clock. At halftime, the score was 35-21.
The Longhorns’ defense was relentless; they denied passing lanes and pressured the ballhandler ruthlessly. Coach Yo was forced to call a timeout around the six minute mark after the Longhorns went on an 8-0 run to begin the quarter.
The Longhorns outscored the Lady Rebels 14-4 in the second quarter. Thienou and guard Jayla Murray made the only two baskets for Ole Miss. In the first half, the Lady Rebels shot only 36% from the field and were 0-of-6 from three.
The Longhorns finished the half with 16 assists. Forwards Breya Cunningham and Madison Booker made tough finishes around the basket. They were two of the four Texas scorers with eight or more points.
The Lady Rebels finally began to break through the Texas defense, but the Longhorns matched them in scoring. The score at the end of the third quarter was 55-40; Texas scored 20 points in the quarter to Ole Miss’ 19.
The Longhorns shut down the Lady Rebels in transition and forced them to play halfcourt offense. Though Ole Miss still had multiple shot clock violations, the team began to figure it out. Forward Latasha Lattimore and guard Denim Deshields both hit three-pointers to trim the Texas lead, but the Lady Rebels were unable to get within single digits.
Two quick baskets to begin the fourth by Ole Miss, including a steal and finish by Thienou, cut the Longhorn lead to 11 once again. The Longhorns pressed the Lady Rebels with mixed results; on one possession, Lattimore caught a fifty-fifty ball and drove all the way from halfcourt for a layup, but the next possession, Iwuala threw an errant pass into the backcourt that bounced out of play.
McMahon, who played point guard, took over the game. Aided by Ole Miss steals and Longhorn turnovers, she attacked the lane, slicing inside for eight straight points. With four minutes to play, the Longhorns were up only three, 59-56.
With 19 points, McMahon tied Byrd’s record.
This was an implosion for the Longhorn offense. On the next possession, they turned the ball over for the fourth straight time.
Powe got an open look from three to tie the game, but missed, and after that, the Longhorns got back into gear. Booker nailed a deep jumper; Lee and guard Ashton Judd both hit and-one layups and made their free throws.
The Lady Rebels continued to fight. McMahon scored a scoop layup after backing down her defender; Harmon missed on the other end, and Iwuala hit two free throws to make the score 67-64.
Judd missed a deep shot on the other end, and with 10 seconds to go, Booker was whistled for a controversial blocking foul after a collision with McMahon with 4.3 seconds left.
But McMahon’s scoring magic had run out. She missed both free throws; the Lady Rebels fouled Harmon, and though the Longhorn guard missed both free throws of her own and Ole Miss took a timeout with 0.7 seconds remaining, McMahon rimmed out on what would have been a game-tying three pointer. The Longhorns won, 67-64.
Still, this was an encouraging performance for Ole Miss. The team battled back despite a nearly sterile second quarter. McMahon started the game one-of-eight front the field but ended up shooting seven-of-16, including ten straight points in the fourth quarter. The Longhorns are one of the most talented teams in the country, and the Lady Rebels were in the game until the final buzzer.
What’s next?
The Lady Rebels will travel to Norman, Okla. to face the No. 8 Sooners on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. CT. SEC Network+ will broadcast the game.
