Cameron Larkin
The Ole Miss women’s basketball team had a very successful 2021-2022 season in which they made the NCAA March Madness tournament. Many people know that the Lady Rebels made the tournament, but few know about the 13-game win streak that set them up for success early in the season.
Ole Miss opened its season against Belmont University, and the Rebels fell 62-50 to the Lady Bruins. With this loss, the season looked grim as a tough non-conference schedule loomed over head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin and her players. However, Ole Miss did not succumb to the disappointment of their season opener.
The Rebels would go on to win their next 13 games by an average margin of 22.5 points. During this stretch, their opponents never surpassed more than 70 points in a game. Ole Miss was firing on all cylinders, on offense and defense, and McPhee-McCuin had her team playing some of the best basketball in the country.
This win streak continued during an inopportune COVID-19 outbreak which stopped the Rebels from playing for 15 days between a matchup with No. 18 South Florida and the University of Florida. Despite this roadblock, Ole Miss hunkered down and grinded out a 19-point win against Florida to raise their win streak to a season-high 13.
The Lady Rebels played in two invitational tournaments to begin the season: the Raising the B.A.R. Invitational powered by Cal and the West Palm Beach Invitational. It is always an honor to be invited to these invitationals, but it is even better when a team is able to weather the storm of competition and win the entire tournament.
McPhee-McCuin’s squad managed to win both of these tournaments in convincing fashion.
Ole Miss strung together wins against quality opponents including Cincinnati, Texas Tech, San Diego State, South Florida and Florida.
With a 13-game win streak on its side, Ole Miss had all the confidence in the world entering SEC play. The Rebels finished conference play 10-6, a massive improvement on the 4-10 conference record from the previous year.
Ole Miss would ride into March Madness as a seven-seed but fell to the South Dakota Coyotes 75-61. However, Ole Miss fans will not look at this season and remember the loss that ended it but rather the incredible showing of resilience and teamwork that led to a beautiful 13-game win streak.
It will be interesting to see whether the current Ole Miss Rebels can replicate or even surpass the 2021-2022 team’s historic win streak, but one thing is certain: The Ole Miss women’s basketball program is trending upward.
