Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Takes On Vanderbilt in SEC Quarterfinal Action

If Coach Yo’s Ole Miss women’s basketball squad wants to on return to the NCAA Tournament hosting conversation right before the big dance commences, they’re going to need to find a way to beat one of the best teams in the nation tonight in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. The good news, of course, is that this is a team we know we can the Rebels can beat, because they already did just that a few short weeks ago.

The Rebels are set to square off against Vanderbilt in a rematch of a late January matchup that saw Ole Miss take down Shea Ralph’s team in Birmingham, 83 to 75.

Vanderbilt enters the matchup as one of the top teams in the country. The Commodores have lost just three games all season and are projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament according to Charlie Creme’s latest bracketology. Ole Miss, meanwhile, currently sits around the No. 6 seed line, giving tonight’s quarterfinal game major implications as far as NCAA Tournament seeding is concerned, as it goes without saying that having a pair of wins over one of the nation’s best teams would look stellar in the eyes of the selection committee.

To make that happen, however, the Rebels will need to give the type of performance that we saw from them during that game, rather than the ones we saw from them in the regular season’s final month.

Ole Miss lost six of its final eight regular-season games, including four straight heading into the SEC Tournament. While the opening-game win over Auburn Thursday night may have helped the team get its groove back, it certainly does not erase the recent concerns that have developed over the past few weeks. Vanderbilt is not Auburn by any means, and Coach Yo will need to have her squad as motivated and ready as possible when taking on an elite team coming off a double-bye.

Statistically, the matchup pits Vanderbilt’s high-powered offense against Ole Miss’s defensive identity, a recurring theme in the McPhee-McCuin era.

The Commodores average 84.9 points per game, the fifth-highest mark in the SEC, while the Rebels score 75.3 points per contest. Defensively, Ole Miss allows an average of just 60.9 points per game compared to the 64.7 Vanderbilt allows.

Vanderbilt’s offense is particularly dangerous because of its ball movement. The Commodores average 19.4 assists per game, the second-most in the SEC, reflecting an offense that thrives on sharing the ball and creating open looks, something Ole Miss will need to be mindful of when on defense.

Perimeter shooting is another major strength for the Commodores, who shoot 36.8 percent from three-point range, the third-best mark in the conference. Limiting those outside opportunities will be a major priority for the Rebels’ defense if they have any plans on pulling the upset.

One area where stats clearly point to a Rebel advantage is on the glass. McPhee-McCuin’s team averages 40.4 rebounds per game, compared to just 36.1 for Vanderbilt — the second-fewest in the SEC. If Ole Miss can control the boards and generate second-chance opportunities, it could provide a critical edge against one of the nation’s most efficient offenses.

Individually, the game features two of the conference’s most dynamic scorers.

Ole Miss forward Cotie McMahon leads the Rebels with 19.8 points per game and has been the centerpiece of the team’s offense throughout the season. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, will be bringing the number-one scorer in the country with guard Mikayla Blakes averaging 27.1 points per game and widely considered one of the premier players in women’s college basketball.

Blakes has been frustrating defenses all season, shooting 46.6 percent from the floor and 36.1 percent from three-point range. Ole Miss’s aforementioned defensive identity will need to shine more than it ever has this season when Blakes is on the court. If Ole Miss wants to advance to the conference semifinals, containing her may well be the top priority of the evening.

Critically, however, the Rebels will need to rediscover the intensity and energy that defined their best showings from earlier in the season, similar to what was on display when they took down the Commodores back in January, a game that showed just what this team is capable of.

With NCAA Tournament seeding potentially on the line, Thursday’s quarterfinal presents Coach Yo and company with not just a chance for another signature win, but with a chance to finally get their mojo back and silence those who’ve counted them out as a tournament threat. However, doing so will require taking down a team with only three losses on the year. But as we know… one of those losses was at the hands of the Ole Miss Rebels, and if it happened once, it could certainly happen again.

Ole Miss takes on Vanderbilt in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. CST on SEC Network.