Coach Yo discusses tonight’s matchup with Auburn
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin met with the media earlier this week as she prepared her squad to step on the court against the Auburn Tigers tonight at 6:30.
Ole Miss, 11-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, will be looking to rebound from a loss to LSU at home this past Sunday.
“We have two good games this week,” McPhee-McCuin said as her Rebels will face Mississippi State Sunday after tonight’s game against Auburn. “Two teams with high net rankings, and they can be great resume games for us.”
Coach Yo added that Auburn has a current NET ranking of 69.
“It’s an opportunity for us to come out and continue to build,” McPhee-McCuin said regarding the games this week.
“With Auburn, first, a physical team, They’re going to be very stingy defensively. It’s two good defensive teams, so it could be a low-scoring game. Or if we look like how we looked offensively last game, maybe we can do the same thing. I expect it to be a really good game. Then, obviously, an in-state opponent against Mississippi State on the road is always a challenge.“
Coach Yo on playing Auburn and Mississippi State this week
Coach Yo also talked about the move of Madison Scott to the point guard position in the last two contests following the injury earlier this season to senior transfer point guard, KK Deans.
“She is a nightmare for coaches,” McPhee-McCuin said of Scott’s new spot. “We haven’t had a coach yet come in and not talk about Madi being at the point,” Yo explained.
“Madi loves playing at the point, (but) we’ve got to get her to understand, ‘You’re just playing the point. If you have someone smaller, then you go post them up.’ …She’s loving the fact she hasn’t had to do that as much but that is a part of her game. She doesn’t look like she’s struggling.”
Coach Yo on Madison Scott playing point
Scott has done very well thus far, averaging 12.5 points per game and 6.5 assists per game in the first two SEC games of the season. Against LSU, she notched a season-best eight assists.
“Against the defending national champions LSU Tigers Madi almost got a double-double,” Coach Yo said. “We expect her to get better on both ends of the floor.”
Coach Yo talked about preparing for Auburn and how their styles contrast.
“They try to present chaos for their opponents….whereas, us, we will just keep you in front and make you take a tough shot. We don’t score a lot off of people’s turnovers. We score a lot off of people’s misses. Auburn scores a lot off of people’s turnovers. We will have to protect the ball which will be a challenge. That will have to be an emphasis. We will have to play at our pace and not get caught up in their pace.”
Coach Yo on Auburn
Game info
The Rebels look to make it three in a row against the Tigers in Oxford at 6:30 p.m. CT tonight. The game is set to be streamed on SEC Network +.
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
