Ole Miss Women in the NCAA Tournament: How to watch, start time, TV channel

The Ole Miss women’s basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. 

The Rebels are a 5-seed in Waco, Texas, and matched against 12-seed Ball State. Tipoff on Friday is set for 5 p.m. CT.

“We’re always grateful every time we have an opportunity to represent the university,” seventh-year head coach Yolett McPhee McCuin said Thursday. “Would we have been excited had we hosted? Of course. But we’ve also been on the road, so this is not foreign to us. 

“We did think that we had the resume. This was our highest seed since 1994 and the highest seed since I’ve been here. So, our word is joy for the year. We’re incredibly grateful, and it doesn’t take much for us to just keep the main thing the main thing. We’ve always been like that, and I think that starts with me and brushes off on the team. 

“It was easier than one may think.”

Ole Miss (20-10) is aiming to win its third straight opening-round game. 

The Rebels are a 5-seed for the third time in program history. They were last seeded as high in 1994. Ole Miss is 3-2 all-time as a 5-seed. The Rebels are one of only six teams in the SEC to advance to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four years.

“That’s a team that is on a high right now,” McPhee-McCuin said of Ball State (27-7). “I know what that feels like to win a conference championship. We definitely respect them. We also expect them to come out and give their best punch.

“When you get into this type of mode, from my experience, you probably try to focus more on your team and what you’re about than the opponent. We respect them a lot and we’re excited about competing against them.”

RELATED: Ole Miss misses out on a host seed on way to earning fourth-straight NCAA Tournament bid

HOW TO WATCH

Television: ESPNU
Play-by-Play: Krista Blunk
Color: Mary Murphy

HOW TO LISTEN

Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Graham Doty

REBELS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Ole Miss is in the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time in program history. The Rebels have made it past the tournament’s first weekend in over half (11) of their appearances. They’ve appeared in the Sweet 16 11 times and Elite Eight five times.

SCOUTING BALL STATE

Ole Miss and Ball State are facing off for the first time ever. Brady Sallee is in his 13th season and is the reigning MAC Coach of the Year.

Sallee is the winningest coach in Ball State women’s basketball history. He has over 250 career wins. The Cardinals won the MAC Tournament to clinch their second all-time trip to the NCAA Tournament. They last danced in 2009.

Ball State this season led the MAC in blocks and defensive field goal percentage. The Cardinals had the third-best scoring defense and the second-most defensive rebounds per game. They ranked Top 50 nationally in both categories.

Four Cardinals average double-digit points.

Alex Richard and Ally Becki are first and second on the team, respectively. Richard is averaging 16.5 points, while Becki, the MAC Player of the Year, is chipping in 13.9.

Becki is a four-year starter and has the sixth-most points in Ball State history. She’s also the team’s leader in assists (6.3 per game) and steals (2.18). Her 214 assists this season are third in the country. She had a triple-double (22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) against Memphis in November.

Richard is a 6-foot-1 senior forward. She’s spent the last three seasons at Ball State and collected nearly 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Richard scored a career-high 33 points against Toledo in February, and another 28 points, again against the Rockets, in the MAC Championship.