Ole Miss women's basketball routs Auburn for first 10 SEC-win season in 30 years
The game was over on the plains before the ball was even tipped, but there still had to be a game played so the Ole Miss women’s basketball dominated Auburn for 40 minutes on Thursday.
A 72-52 victory by the Rebels at Auburn capped their road schedule for the 2021-22 season and secured another milestone that had not been achieved since the 1991-92 season.
For the first time in 30 years the Rebels notched their 10th SEC win of the regular season, an achievement done only once before when they went 11-0 to win the 1992 SEC title.
The game itself was lopsided from the start. Snudda Collins finished with a game-high 20 points while Shakira Austin finished with 19 points, five rebound and three blocks. Angel Baker finished with 11 points.
“I told them tonight it was about us continuing to write our story,” said head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. “We were aware that we hadn’t had a double-digit conference season since 1992. We wanted to continue to etch our story in the history books.”
Despite playing a game in Oxford 48 hours earlier, there was no signs of fatigue or lack of energy by the Rebels (22-6, 10-5 SEC) as they jumped out a 19-2 lead after the first quarter.
They never looked back or slowed down from there.
For all intents and purposes the Rebels have been safely inside the field of 64 for next month’s NCAA Tournament — another accomplishment that would end a 14-year drought for the program. Thursday’s win only bolsters the Rebels chances to go dancing in March, a year after making it to the WNIT Championship.
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The Rebels have one more game before concluding the regular season and have put themselves in a spot to potentially not have to play until the quarterfinal round of next week’s SEC Tournament. No. 15 Florida fell to Vanderbilt on Thursday, which put the Gators and the Rebels in a tie for fourth place in the standings. The tiebreaker goes to the Rebels after their 74-56 win in Gainesville last month.
A win by the Rebels on Sunday or a Gators loss to Missouri would secure a top-four finish in the SEC for the Rebels. Unfortunately they have to try and get past No. 1 South Carolina (25-1, 13-1) who comes to Oxford for Senior Day.
The two teams have already met once with the Rebels suffering a 69-40 loss in Columbia on Jan. 27.
“We didn’t feel like we played well there,” McCuin said of their previous game against the Gamecocks. “Because it was new, it was a different environment. We just want to come out and grow. If we can compete against South Carolina and give ourselves a chance to win then we can compete against anybody in the country.
“What I love about is before we get to March Madness, to the NCAA Tournament, we get to play against the best who expects to be in the Final Four, right? So, lets see where we are. If we beat them then we’re doing really, really well. If compete, if we’re playing well, then we’re doing really, really well. There’s no loss for us on Sunday. It’s going to be all about having fun and seeing where we as we prep for March Madness.”
The Rebels and Gamecocks will tipoff at 1 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
