Yolett McPhee-McCuin explains defensive game plan that held Missouri without a 3-pointer

It’s hard to execute much better on defense than Ole Miss did against Missouri on Monday night. The Rebels were stifling from start to finish on their way to a 66-45 win, clinching a double bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

Missouri entered the contest second in the SEC in both 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made. However, they failed to hit a single shot from beyond the arc Monday. Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin spoke with SEC Network postgame about the game plan that limited the Tigers to just 0-of-7 from 3.

“Well, I’d like to give a shoutout to Karl Smesko from Florida Gulf Coast,” she said. “I’ve had to play against lethal 3-point shooting teams. Usually against them, you’ve gotta make them floor it. You’ve gotta make them play in a way that they don’t want to play. That’s uncomfortable for them. That’s what dictate and disrupt means.”

Ole Miss certainly did a lot to disrupt the offensive flow for Missouri, which also committed 18 turnovers. Ole Miss asserted itself from the start and held a 26-17 advantage at halftime. It entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead before outscoring the Tigers 22-12 to pull away for the blowout.

Mizzou forward Hayley Frank, who ranks as the fifth-leading scorer in the SEC with 17.4 points per game, was held to only two points on 1-of-12 shooting. It marked the fewest amount of points she has scored in any game this season, another feather in the cap for the Rebels defense.

“First of all, Hayley Frank is one of my favorite players in the SEC,” McPhee-McCuin said. “So if we’re able to do that, this is a huge win. Defensively, we try to see where we have advantages and disadvantages. We felt like no matter who we put on her, we just needed to hit first. She’s such a physical player and she’s so smart. We knew we had to hit first and be at the spots before she got there.”

With the win against Missouri, Ole Miss improved to 20-7 (10-4 SEC) and sits in third place in the conference standings. The Rebels have now won four straight games and have two more remaining in the regular season, but McPhee-McCuin doesn’t believe they have reached their peak yet.

The Rebels just got Snudda Collins, who led the team with 14 points on Tuesday, back and are still trending up at the right time of year with postseason play on the horizon.

“Not quite (playing our best yet),” McPhee-McCuin said. “Snudda just got back. She had been out. As you can see, I was intentional about trying to play my youth. I feel like if we wanna make a big run in the NCAA Tournament and the SEC Tournament, I have to play the bench. So any time I can get an opportunity to do that, especially in a three-game week, it was beautiful.”