Dancing Shoes, Activate: No. 8 seed Ole Miss gets No. 9 Gonzaga in NCAA Tournament first round

The Ole Miss women’s basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in as many seasons. 

No small feat. 

Actually, the Rebels last pulled off back-to-back trips in 2004 and 2005. They’ve now gotten there a total of 19 times in school history.

“We think our schedule has prepared us for any type of matchup — from playing the No. 1 in the country in South Carolina to a two-seed in Utah that averaged, at the time, 100 points a game,” Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said this week, during her pre-NCAA Tournament press conference. 

Ole Miss is slotted as an eight-seed in the Stanford side of the bracket. The Rebels get No. 9 seed Gonzaga in the first round on Friday. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. CT on ESPNU and the winner will advance to the Round of 32 to face either No. 1 Stanford or No. 16 Sacred Heart. 

McPhee-McCuin added, “Our group has been battle-tested … with the hopes it would prepare us for a moment like this.”

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Ole Miss has made it through the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in over half of its appearances. 

The Rebels (23-8, 11-5 SEC) have reached the Sweet Sixteen 10 times. They moved on to the Elite Eight in five of those postseasons, the last coming in 2007. Ole Miss and Gonzaga (28-4, 17-1 WCC) are meeting for just the third time in history.

Ole Miss is making its third all-time trip to the West Coast for the NCAA Tournament. The others came in 1992 (Colorado) and 1990 (Stanford).

“The reason I felt like I could be successful at Ole Miss was because it wasn’t my first build,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I was able to build at Jacksonville University, so I kind of had a rhythm of what it would take to build a program. In order to do that, you have to obviously engage the community and bring in talent that fits the university and the style of play you want to coach. 

“And then, obviously, you have to win. We’ve been able to do those things. Our support has grown organically because of that. Really excited with where we are and where we’re about to go.”

JOURNEY TO THE TOURNEY

Ole Miss opened SEC play 5-0 and following a non-conference slate in which the Rebels were 11-2. Their losses came against Utah and Oklahoma — both of which are also in the NCAA Tournament.

Ole Miss had a 19-point comeback win at Arkansas in January before rattling off four more wins in February to reach 11 SEC wins in a season for just the second time in program history. The Rebels collected double-digit conference wins for the second season in a row — a new school first. Ole Miss, in all, has three double-digit-winning seasons in SEC play. 

Ole Miss was a perfect 11-0 in 1991-92. The Rebels were 10-6 last season. They have 20 or more overall wins in a season for the the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95.

GREAT SCOTT! (AND BAKER)

Junior forward Madison Scott has 10 double-doubles this season — the most in her career to date. 

She has 20 for her career — a mark ranking 10th in school history. Dating back to last season, Ole Miss is 14-3 in games Scott and Ole Miss leading scorer Angel Baker both score in double figures. Baker, the reigning SEC Sixth-Woman of the Year, has notched six 5/5/5 (points/rebounds/assists) games this season. She also has 45 steals. 

Baker leads the Rebels with 15.1 points per game.

BY THE NUMBERS

Ole Miss is No. 9 in the country in three-point defense, holding opponents to 25.5 percent from deep. The Rebels are 21-1 when shooting 40 percent or better from the floor. … In games Ole Miss out-rebounded its opponent, the Rebels are 22-1. Mississippi State transfer Myah Taylor leads the SEC in active career assists with over 500. … Ole Miss is No. 25 in the college basketball in scoring defense (56.9 ppg). The Rebels are No. 12 in defensive field goal percentage (35.5 percent). The Rebels a year ago shattered the program record for single-season blocks (142). This season they broke their own record with 164.