Ole Miss women's basketball has used its 'winter camp' to reset and refocus ahead of SEC play
The start of December and the second month of the season started off with a flurry for the Ole Miss women’s basketball team with three games in 10 days.
But since the No. 25-ranked Rebels (7-3) close out the month with two games in a 15-day stretch. Since the South Alabama game on December 15 they will play Mississippi Valley State on Saturday as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team then after another week off host Alcorn State on December 30 for its final non-conference game.
Part of that is due to final exams taking place December 9-13 and a dead period for competitive games, but also just how the schedule shook out.
For Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin this downtime to close out December is welcomed. She and her staff have used the time, accordingly.
“This has been great for us,” McCuin said on Tuesday. “We call this our winter training camp where we just had a chance to really focus on ourselves. We played a brutal schedule. That’s not my opinion. That’s what the numbers say. Hopefully it will pay off. Obviously we wanted to win all those games.”
Instead Ole Miss dropped its season opener to then No. 3 Southern California in Paris then fell to then No. 2 UConn in the Bahamas Thanksgiving week followed up with a loss at North Carolina State on December 5.
Three losses that hurt in more ways than the win-loss record. ESPN’s Charlie Creme has dropped the Rebels down from a host-seed contender at No. 4 to No. 7 in his most recent ‘Bracketology’ update this week.
“When you look at it you saw an N.C. State team go on the road and win their first conference game against a Louisville team bu 40. You’re seeing what UConn’s doing to everybody and SC, the two of the three of those games we really had a chance to win is very encouraging,” McCuin added. “We’ve been kind of just taking it one day at a time looking at us more than the opponents and just focusing on what we can be better about.”
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Ole Miss is still trending towards a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Though there is going to be a lot of work to be done to get there. The Southeastern Conference once again looks loaded with postseason potential teams and the Rebels will be competing against the usual suspects atop the league.
Not having a tough opponent the final three games, and the gaps between those games, could cause a tough pivot for McCuin’s squad. Three nights after playing Alcorn State Ole Miss travels to play Auburn to open up its SEC schedule.
The competition is not terribly tough closing out the final two games, but McCuin feels confident in the experience already gained the previous 10 games up to now.
“One of the things that is a concern for me is our conditioning,” McCuin said. “I want us to be in shape, but it’s one of those things where I don’t want us to peak early. …There’s some happy medium out there for coaches that we all strive to get.
“When we play these type games, really every game in the non-conference, is more about us than the opponent. Now when we get on the road in January it’s going to be about the opponent.”
