Preview: Ole Miss looks to keep unbeaten SEC streak alive on the road in Aggieland
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Ole Miss women’s basketball takes on A&M in College Station this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. (CT). The Rebels (14-2, 3-0 SEC) are undefeated in league play, while the Aggies (5-8, 0-3 SEC) are looking for their first conference win.
In their last games, Ole Miss beat Vanderbilt, 64-53, at the SJB Pavilion Thursday. A&M lost on the road to LSU, 74-34.
Although A&M leads the all-time series, 10-4, dating back to 1995, the Rebels are on their longest winning streak (two games) after winning both matchups last year.
Even though the two teams are on different trajectories at the moment, head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin is not overlooking anyone.
”As coaches, we don’t take anyone lightly. We’ve coached enough basketball to see upsets happen.”
Coach Yo
Scouting the Aggies
Following the retirement of the legendary head coach Gary Blair, former Georgia head coach Joni Taylor made the jump across the SEC to take over the Aggie program.
Texas A&M enters Sunday’s matchup sitting at 5-8 overall, after dropping four out of its last five contests. All five of the Aggies wins have come from the confines of Reed Arena, with its last win over SMU, 57-49 on Dec. 18.
As the second youngest team in the SEC, freshman Sydney Bowles leads the charge for A&M with 22 made triples this season and averaging 9.0 points per game.
Aliyah Patty carries the Aggies off the glass, with a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game.
Last time out
Angel Baker felt it right from the jump with 20 points in the first half to lift Ole Miss above Vanderbilt 74-53 to beat the Commodores in back-to-back season for the first time since the 1986 & 1987 seasons.
Madison Scott backed up Baker, adding 17 points of her own to set a career-long six game streak in double-figures.
Once again, Ole Miss lit it up in the third quarter with 21 points to propel itself over Vanderbilt to move to 3-0 in SEC play for the first time since 2007.
Coach Yo is pleased with her team’s progress but knows there’s plenty of work still to do.
“That is what is cool about our growth. We are not there yet, and I don’t know if I want to be. We just want to figure out ways to win every game.”
Coach Yo
Dynamic Duo
All 17 points scored in the first quarter against Vanderbilt came from the combined duo of Angel Baker and Madison Scott as the pair went on to combine for a total of 39 points.
39 points between Baker and Scott are the most in a single-game by the two in their two seasons together in Oxford.
Game info
Sunday’s nationally televised game on SEC Network is set to tip at 2 p.m. CT.
(Feature image credit: Kiana Dale, Ole Miss Athletics)
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
