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Setting the Stage: Baylor stands between Ole Miss women and second Sweet 16 in three years

Ben Garrettby:Ben Garrett•03/22/25•

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Ole Miss women's basketball gets Baylor on Sunday (Photo credit: Ole Miss women's basketball/X)

No. 5 seed Ole Miss women’s basketball on Sunday will face off with host 4-seed Baylor with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line. 

Tipoff is 3 p.m. CT on ESPN. 

The Rebels (21-10) have made it past opening weekend in over half (11) of their 21 NCAA Tournament appearances. They’re aiming for their 11th all-time Sweet 16. 

Ole Miss handle Ball State, 83-65, in the opening round. Kennedy Todd-Williams and Star Jacobs each had a double-double. The Rebels led for 34 minutes of the game. 

The Rebels are in the second round for the third straight year.

Sunday is a chance for their second Sweet 16 in three years. They’re facing Baylor for the first time since 2014 and fourth time in history. They hold a 2-1 series lead, having won each of the last two meetings.

Baylor (28-7) features a Top 25 scoring offense, led by Aaronette Vonleh, who’s averaging 14.9 points per game. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs is pulling down 10.2 rebounds. The Bears are Top 15 in scoring margin.

Here’s everything seventh-year Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said Saturday to preview the matchup.

RELATED: Everything Coach Yo said after Ole Miss’ third consecutive opening-round win

ON BAYLOR

McPHEE-McCUIN: Yeah, Baylor is an aggressive team. They want to get out in transition (and) are pretty balanced. They have a force on the inside, and then they have some pretty good guards, so we’ll have our work cut out for us. A lot of similarities in style of play, and so I think the team that executes the game plan the best will come out on top.

ON PAST SECOND-ROUND EXPERIENCE

McPHEE-McCUIN: Yeah, I didn’t — there wasn’t a matchup I was hoping for because I know that it’s March Madness for a reason. So just like South Dakota beat us they went ahead and beat Baylor the second game. I think this is the time of year where you just focus on your team and preparing them to go up against whomever. So this year it happens to be Baylor.

What’s different? This group that I have, the schedule that was put in place has prepared us for this moment, opening up in Paris, France, playing UConn on a neutral site, going to NC State and it was sold out, playing at LSU in front of 10,000 people. We’re prepared for any type of environment, and we’re prepared to play any style of team. It just so happens that Baylor is a team that their style is kind of similar to ours, so to speak. So I think we’ll be ready and this will be a great challenge and I’m excited about going up against them.

ON A PREVIOUS OLE MISS OPPONENT SIMILAR TO BAYLOR

McPHEE-McCUIN: Yeah, I mean, they got a dominant big inside, so you can go — let’s see. Where do I start? You can go Texas, you can go South Carolina, you can go Oklahoma (laughing). I mean, you can go through a lot of dominant bigs in the Southeastern Conference. So that will be something that we have seen before.

And then they have good guards. In the Southeastern Conference, every team has good guards, you know, from really young guards to experienced guards. So that’s what I’m saying. Like, the style of play — the league is so diverse now that we have kind of seen everything. Like, Ball State, there were teams that reminded us of Ball State, the Vanderbilts, the Arkansases, Missouri. Now we have Baylor, and that’s more of a Texas, more of a South Carolina, LSU. We’ve played against this style and the league has prepared us for that.

ON LEARNING FROM PAST NCAA TOURNAMENTS

McPHEE-McCUIN: Yeah, I mean, it has definitely prepared me, but I think that preparation has been a part of my journey my whole life. So I’ve always had to — I’ve always been the underdog. I’ve always — I’ve never had a breakaway layup. I’ve always had to do a combo move or a euro step to get my two points. That has really been my story.

When we — I can go back to when I was at Jacksonville, and we beat Florida Gulf Coast, and they were the juggernauts in the league, and we went to their place and beat ’em. It was their first time losing in seven years. When we went to Palo Alto, I think they had only lost three home games.

And so it’s just something that I’m very comfortable with, and I think it’s because I don’t let the moment become bigger than what’s in front of me, which is the game plan.

“We’re always going to have a great game plan.”

I have a great staff that has experience. My staff, Quentin Hillsman has coached in a championship game in the NCAA. Coach Joy and Coach Emp has played in the Elite 8 and has numerous NCAA Tournament experiences. And then have you me. This is my fifth NCAA Tournament experience as a coach, as a head coach.

So we have a lot of experience and this is just, to me, another game. I don’t look at it like this is — I mean, I think the pressure’s on Baylor. I don’t think the pressure’s on us. They’re at home. So as far as we’re concerned, we’re just coming out and trying to execute our game plan as best as we know and can.

ON PLAYING A TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

McPHEE-McCUIN: There’s no question. I mean, now, there were times where I was like, Man, I wish I had taken the easy year route (laughing). I felt like maybe we got penalized for it, because 20-10 doesn’t look sexy, but our strength of schedule’s a 3. You’re hearing the names that I called. And then, just being in the Southeastern Conference, we’re playing, I think there were eight teams before us that got ranked. There were eight teams, and then you got South Carolina who is up there, LSU is up there, Oklahoma, Tennessee was up there, Vandy got ranked, Alabama.

I mean, it’s a dog-eat-dog world and it definitely has prepared us for this moment. So, although there were moments I wish we had played a little bit more easier teams, my team is incredibly confident as far as their ability to play right now. Like I said, our last loss was versus the No. 1 team in the nation at the time, Texas, and it was by two possessions. So we’re confident.

ON THE UNIVERSITY’S SUPPORT OF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

McPHEE-McCUIN: Yeah, I think we are all a team with the intent to give the best student-athlete experience that we can and we try not to make it more about me or them, it’s really about the student-athlete. You know, I never asked them that though (laughing). But I do feel my impact in the Oxford community from my foundation, what we do, the countless free clinics and empowerment summits and the way we put ourselves out in the community and the way the community loves us back. I’m never unsure about what the crowd is going to look like on a weekend, they come out and they support us.

And I think that anybody that’s not doing it in 2025 is a little bit behind. There are a lot of things right now that can pull administrations, people, a lot of different ways, right. Just the way the business is going. But women’s basketball matters. The impact that it has matters. And now we’re receiving units. And is it what we want it to be? No. But it’s a start, and there were a lot of people that came before me that fought for it to be where it is, and I hope that it will continue to grow.

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