Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Defeats Florida 84-74, Rebels Advance to SEC Semi-Finals
GREENVILLE — In the Rebels’ first appearance in this year’s SEC tournament, Ole Miss brought the excitement as the Rebels defeated Florida, 84-74, for the third victory over the Gators this season.
Fresh for the game after experiencing a double-bye as the No. 3 seed, Ole Miss was ready to get in the action. No. 11 seed Florida, on the other hand, had defeated Missouri in the opening round and won a thriller against Vanderbilt in round two.
The Rebel win came in a thrilling fashion as the game was tied heading into the final minutes. But head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s team ended the game on a fast and furious 14-3 scoring run to earn the win.
Ole Miss made 27 of its 64 shots (42.2%) on the way to the victory and was led by Marquesha Davis who finished with 33 points, a career-high. Not only did Davis’ explosive night make her the first Rebel since 2019 to score 30 in a game, she now ranks No. 2 at Ole Miss with points in an SEC Tournament game.
Kennedy Todd-Williams finished with 18 points, while Madison Scott added 14.
Scott snagged a season-high 15 rebounds for the second most by a Rebel in an SEC Tournament game. Her 14 points gave her another double-double this season, bringing this year’s total to seven.
Florida was led by Aliyah Matharu who scored 24 points and Leilani Correa who scored 18 points. The Gators were 22-57 from the field (38.6%) and 25-32 from the free throw line.
Early on, it was the Rebels who set the tone with a physical style of play including crashing the offensive glass and playing out in transition. However, Florida would take the early lead as Ole Miss struggled to make shots.
Florida would lead 21-15 after the first quarter thanks to making their perimeter shots and going a perfect 6-6 from the line. The Rebels wouldn’t let that stand for long, however, after getting the first six points of the second quarter to bring it back to a tie game.
Toddy makin’ it look eazzzy 😮💨@Ktoddwilli | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/fKzeCb7lES
— Ole Miss Women’s BB (@OleMissWBB) March 9, 2024
From there on, it was back and forth until halftime where Madison Scott would give Ole Miss a 37-36 lead with a free throw right before the end of the half.
At halftime, Coach Yo reached her players and the “we defend” mantra came to fruition. In the third quarter, Ole Miss displayed that ferocious defense for which they’ve become known.
In the third quarter alone, the Rebels caused two major droughts for Florida, during which the Gators were held to one field goal in an 8:28 second span of the third quarter. However, Florida did find success at the line which kept them in the game.
In the fourth quarter, Marquesha Davis and Madison Scott came alive. Davis would add 12 points in the quarter as she sliced up the Florida defense en route to her game-high 33 points.
There she goes AGAIN.@MarqueshaDavis is cookin’ 👩🍳 pic.twitter.com/KRNOow74bt
— Ole Miss Women’s BB (@OleMissWBB) March 9, 2024
The Gators threw a variety of different looks at the Ole Miss offense — including a zone — all with the common goal of keeping the Rebels out of the paint.
With the game tied at 71-71, Madison Scott would begin to make her presence known with an offensive rebound off a Davis missed free throw that led to Scott converting an and-one.
MADI. SCOTT.
AND ONE. 😤 pic.twitter.com/XXx3FGSCnR
— Ole Miss Women’s BB (@OleMissWBB) March 9, 2024
On the next possession, Scott would grab another offensive rebound, this time off a Kennedy Todd-Williams free throw and would, in turn, make a jump shot to extend the Ole Miss lead up to six, putting the Rebels safely ahead for the rest of the contest.
Madison Scott knew how to make an impact
Despite starting the game 3-11, Madison Scott found different ways to help her team. The senior who recently announced her expected return next year, added 14 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Florida.
Postgame, Scott displayed her team-first mindset.
“Keep shooting, you know, I just always want to help my team in any way I can. It was ugly, the ball wasn’t going in. I had every reason to quit — but there’s no quit in us. We know where we want to go… and I wanted to do anything I could to help us.“
Madison Scott
These Rebels Rebound
Winning the rebounding battle was key, especially against a Florida team that was known to give up a lot on the offensive glass. Ole Miss won the battle 45-32 Friday night. The Rebels would grab 21 rebounds on the offensive end, matching the defensive number for Florida.
“Rebounding is what we do,” said Scott. “We’ve been rebounding all year at a high level. That’s an emphasis for our team to rebound,” she added.
Kharyssa Richardson echoed that statement. “Huge emphasis, one of the main things on the board is to rebound… Today it was a major thing for us.”
Next Up
Ole Miss will take on LSU today at 6:00 PM CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. The Tigers are the No. 2 seeded team in the tournament and defeated Auburn on Friday.
TJ Oxley
TJ Oxley is the Vice President of Operations and the Director of Community Relations for The Rebel Walk. He is also the Director of Basketball Content and Senior Basketball Writer. He has over five years of experience providing in-depth analysis of college basketball through multiple platforms. A former MBA graduate of Ole Miss, TJ started with The Rebel Walk in 2019.
