Ole Miss women seek postseason boost in Greenville

Mar. 4—For the first time under Yolett McPhee-McCuin, Ole Miss women's basketball goes to the SEC Tournament with an expectation that the next loss isn't a season-ender.

The Rebels, the SEC Tournament 11 seed, take on No. 6 seed Arkansas tonight at approximately 7:30.

The game will air on the SEC Network.

After struggling to make winning plays in the final minutes — or seconds — in road losses at Mississippi State, Tennessee and LSU, the Rebels showed growth down the stretch with two wins against a ranked Kentucky team and a win at SEC 7 seed Alabama.

Ole Miss (10-10, 4-10 SEC) has three Quadrant 1 wins and reaches Greenville with an NCAA Net Ranking of 47.

Wins against Arkansas then 3 seed Tennessee in the next round would give the Rebels five Quadrant 1 wins.

"When we started out as a staff this season our goal was to go to postseason," McPhee-McCuin said. "We never specified which one. If we had to play in the WBI we'd have done it. I don't think we'll have to do that. We feel good about being an NIT team. Now we're going to focus on being an NCAA Tournament team."

Ole Miss lost 84-74 at then-No. 18 Arkansas on Feb. 19 and 68-67 at then-No. 20 Tennessee on Jan. 28.

The Rebels held the lead against the Vols with less than 2 minutes to play.

Arkansas led Ole Miss most of the game. The Rebels were down four points with 7 minutes, 40 seconds remaining but couldn't get closer.

Ole Miss begins the SEC Tournament with momentum after Sunday's 73-69 win at No. 17 Kentucky.

Six-foot-five center Shakira Austin, who was named first-team All-SEC on Tuesday, led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but three of her teammates scored at least 12 points.

McPhee-McCuin says the Rebels need similar balance in the offense for a successful stay in Greenville.

"We'd been riding Kira's back for a while," she said. "We need to continue to do the things that work for us and don't do the things that don't work. What works for us is rebounding, running and sharing the ball."

If the Rebels do those things plus move their feet on defense and keep teams off the foul line postseason remains a realistic goal.

"We don't have any pressure on us. We feel good. We're going to Greenville to win games and let the chips fall where they may," McPhee-McCuin said.

parrish.alford@djournal.com