Christeen Iwuala Reflects on Standout Performance, Team Resilience in Rebels’ Win Over No. 5 Vanderbilt
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Against the backdrop of a devastating winter storm across North Mississippi, Ole Miss women’s basketball showed poise and resolve Thursday afternoon, knocking off No. 5 Vanderbilt 83–75. Powered in part by Christeen Iwuala’s standout effort, the win carried meaning that extended well beyond the final score
“Honestly, it brought a lot of gratitude for me and my team,” Iwuala said, reflecting on the challenges leading up to the game.
“There are a lot of places we could have been and a lot of things we could have had to deal with. There are still people back at home struggling with no power or water, and just the fact that we get to be here, in a place where the SEC has been able to accommodate us and allow us to play this game, is huge. We knew this was bigger than just us—it was for the whole city of Oxford.”
Christeen Iwuala
The Rebels jumped out to a 19-point halftime lead behind Cotie McMahon’s game-high 27 points and Iwuala’s continued contributions on the glass—marking her 13th game this season as the team’s leading or co-leading rebounder—giving Ole Miss a strong inside presence for which Vanderbilt had few answers.
Even as Vanderbilt staged a furious second-half rally powered by a dominant third quarter which enabled them to briefly take the lead in the fourth, Iwuala and her teammates maintained their composure and finished strong, scoring 12 of the game’s final 17 points to secure the victory after Vanderbilt threatened late.
Asked what the team learned from that second-half push, Iwuala said, “It really honed in on the fact that it’s all 40 minutes,” she began.
“The entirety of the game is what we needed to focus on—intensity, defense, and staying true to our values. I feel like we let that slip a little in the third quarter and the start of the fourth, but we brought it back together. That was the main thing.”
Christeen Iwuala
Oxford, this one’s for you 🩵 #HottyToddy x #Give pic.twitter.com/aVuVTRjrTm
— Ole Miss Women’s BB (@OleMissWBB) January 30, 2026
Her performance on the court was both personal and team-driven. When asked if she felt confident she could deliver the kind of post success she had on Thursday, Iwuala explained the team-first mentality that has become a hallmark of Ole Miss basketball.
“Yeah, the beautiful thing about our team is that it could be anybody’s night. You could stop one person, maybe two, and then someone else steps up and becomes that spark. Every single game, somebody has been able to bring that light, and today it was my day—my teammates allowed me to do well, and I’m grateful for that.”
Christeen Iwuala
Next Up
Ole Miss will stay in Birmingham for another neutral site match, this time against Auburn on Monday, February 2. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
Jacob Quaglino
Jacob is a New Orleans, LA native and Ole Miss alumni, Class of 2024 and staff writer with The Rebel Walk. He has been a diehard fan of all Ole Miss sports his entire life, with his earliest Ole Miss sports memory being the Rebels' iconic 2008 upset of then-No. 4 Florida. Among his other favorite Rebel sports memories are storming the field after beating LSU in 2023 and Georgia in 2024, watching the Rebels upset Alabama in back to back years in 2014-15, seeing the women's golf team win the school's first-ever NCAA-recognized national championship in 2021, and watching the Rebel baseball team win the College World Series in 2022. He remains exceedingly hopeful that the Ole Miss Athletics Department's national championship trophy collection will grow in the coming years. Outside of The Rebel Walk, Jacob also works for a local radio news station and has many interests and hobbies, including reading, writing, watching college sports, playing pickleball, and traveling.
