Ole Miss came into the ACC/SEC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 4 against Notre Dame undefeated. Coming off a big comeback win over the Fighting Irish, the Lady Rebels narrowly fell to Kansas State on Sunday, Dec. 7.
Notre Dame
The No. 13 Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team defeated No. 18 Notre Dame 69-62 in Oxford on Thursday, Dec. 4, as part of the ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge. The Lady Rebels, now 8-0, tied the largest comeback in program history in their first ranked game of the year.
The biggest point of emphasis for the Lady Rebels going into the game was to shut down Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo. The AP Preseason First Team All-American entered the matchup with an average of 27 points per game and can make shots from anywhere on the floor.
In the first half, Hidalgo put up 18 of the Fighting Irish’s 37 points. With five minutes left in the half, the Fighting Irish were up 35-16, their largest lead of the night. For the Lady Rebels, the score gap was not the main concern — what worried the team was how out-of-character this performance was.
“I honestly don’t even think we knew we were down 19,” forward Christeen Iwuala said in the postgame press conference. “We obviously knew we were down, but our focus was just (that) we weren’t playing Ole Miss basketball in the first half. A lot of our mistakes were shooting ourselves in the foot, so those could all be self-corrected.”
It was not until the tail end of the first half that the Lady Rebels began to look like themselves. They forced multiple turnovers and went on a 13-2 run, shrinking Notre Dame’s 19-point lead to just five. The Lady Rebels only allowed the Fighting Irish 11 points in the second quarter, a massive improvement from the first quarter’s 26.
It was all Ole Miss in the third quarter — the Lady Rebels totaled two steals, 13 rebounds and 21 total points. Their first lead of the night came after a steal and pull-up three by guard Debreasha Powe. Forward Cotie McMahon extended the lead with a layup to cap off the third quarter.
Ole Miss continued its dominance in the fourth quarter. Iwuala put up seven points, four rebounds and a steal. Notre Dame scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, but turned the ball over six times, and the Lady Rebels held on to win.
Before Hidalgo was ejected for taunting, Ole Miss held her to 10 points in the second half.
The team chose to return to its normal defensive strategy rather than using a specialized scheme to contain Hidalgo, and this was when the Lady Rebels began to hit their stride defensively.
“Hidalgo is a dynamic player. She makes you question what you do,” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said in the postgame press conference. “At first, we were like, ‘We have to trap her (Hidalgo),’ and it really messed us up, that’s just not who we are. … I just said (to the team), ‘We’re going to play our way, and if we lose, we’ll lose that way.’”
Iwuala was named player of the game with 18 points, 13 rebounds, a block and two assists. She had several timely shots and made multiple trips to the free throw line. McMahon also had an impressive offensive night with 22 points.
In the postgame press conference, McMahon credited the crowd in The Sandy and John Black Pavilion. The fans stayed engaged for all four quarters and played a key role in keeping energy high for the Lady Rebels.
“I love the energy. I think we all feed off of the crowd,” McMahon said. “It was cool. We love the Rebel nation. It was fun and we appreciate them a lot.”
Kansas State
After their excellent win over Notre Dame, the Lady Rebels traveled to St. Joseph, Mo., to play Kansas State. They suffered their first defeat of the season, 61-60.
The score was all knotted up after the first 12 minutes, then the Rebels took a 31-28 lead heading into halftime. The Wildcats outscored the Rebels 33-29 in the second half; Wildcat Brandie Harrod scored a layup with one second remaining to win it.
McMahon led the way for Ole Miss with 22 points in 40 minutes for the Rebels. Tianna Thompson followed with 12 points.
The Lady Rebels were just 5-of-30 from three and 22-of-69 from the field. The Wildcats on the other hand, were 6-of-15 from deep and 18-of-47 from the field.
What’s next?
The Lady Rebels look to rebound after their loss to the Wildcats on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 12 p.m. in Oxford against Wofford. SEC Network+ will broadcast the game.
