Ole Miss women’s basketball looking for bounce-back win over Florida

OXFORD, Miss. — Fresh off a two-game road series, the Ole Miss women’s basketball team returns to Oxford for a two-game home stand. Today, they will look to get back to their winning ways as Coach Yo and the Rebels host Florida.

Thursday, Ole Miss fell, 65-51, against Tennessee after keeping it close for the first three quarters. Despite that recent loss, the Rebels still find themselves in a really good position within the SEC. They are 18-5 overall and 7-3 in conference (4th place in the league). A win against Florida can help them maintain their gap between the fourth and fifth spots in the conference.

Ole Miss is looking to make it three straight wins against the Gators. Last year, the Rebels swept them, and barring an unforeseen meeting in the tournament this is the only meeting between the two this season. With a win today, the three-game winning streak would be the longest active streak between the two since Ole Miss won eight straight between 1979 to 1992.

Getting to Know Florida

The visiting Gators are looking to play their way back into potential tournament conversation and are going to need to get things going to do so. They are 14-8 overall and 3-6 in conference play.

Under the leadership of second-year head coach Kelly Rae Finley, Florida has a strong, balanced scoring offense. The Gators have four different scorers in double figures. KK Deans leads the team in scoring at 13.9 PPG while also shooting 37.5% from three.

Another perimeter threat is Nina Richards who is scoring 12.9 PPG while also being a rebounder with 5.6 RPG. On the interior, Florida is led by Ra’Shaya Kyle. She leads the Gators in rebounds (6.9) while also scoring 10.1 PPG on 51% shooting.

Florida began the season 11-2 with losses to Oklahoma and Florida State. Despite the three wins in SEC play, the Gators have started to figure it out a bit of late, winning two of their last three games. Last time out they defeated Texas A&M for their second win over the Aggies on the season. Their other conference win comes against Vanderbilt.

New Heights for Marquesha Davis

Let’s move the focus to Ole Miss. Recently, Coach Yo made the decision to put Marquesha Davis back in the line-up and the move has paid major dividends. Since starting the last four games, Davis has bumped her scoring outings and has scored in double figures in each contest.

On the season, she has averaged 9.3 points per contest. As a starter in SEC play, she has increased that scoring output to 14.3 PPG and played a huge role in the recent comeback win over Arkansas.

Davis has really found an uptick with the new role. Her 66 possessions on-ball of the last four games are the most of any four-game stretch on the season. The guard has really added an extra element to the Rebels’ transition game. In the last four games, her 26 points in transition is more than her total from the last six SEC games, per Synergy Sports Technologies.

Efficient on Both Ends

Focusing in on Ole Miss as a whole, it is incredible what Coach Yo has been able to do with a revamped roster this season. She lost a lottery pick in Shakira Austin and has nine new players on the team. Credit to everyone involved as the players have put together an impressive two-way product this year.

As a group, defensively, Ole Miss has held teams to a 35.2 FG% from the field. That 35.2% is good for 20th in the NCAA and 4th in the SEC behind just South Carolina, LSU, and Mississippi State. They’ve accomplished all this while forcing teams to a blistering 20.6% turnover percentage.

Offensively, the Rebels rank in the top 35% of the NCAA in total offense, per Synergy Sports, and they particularly thrive in transition.

As mentioned earlier, Davis is the leader for the Rebels in transition with 80 possessions, but others have helped contribute. Snudda Collins, Madison Scott, and Angel Baker are all greater than the 70th percentile in points per possession in transition. Madison Scott is above and beyond in transition, shooting a scorching 72%.

Game info

Ole Miss and Florida tip off at 3:00 p.m. (CT) in the SJB Pavilion. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)