Cameron Larkin
The Ole Miss Women’s Basketball team started its 2023-2024 campaign off on the right foot on Monday, Nov. 6 with a dominating 91-44 victory over the Queens University of Charlotte Lions.
The Lady Rebels opened the season at 11 a.m. inside the Sandy and John Black Pavillion with their annual Kids Day where they welcomed elementary, middle and high school students all across the state of Mississippi.
The No. 12 Ole Miss, led by Head Coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin, known by many as Coach Yo, put on a show for the kids and fans en route to a 1-0 start to an all-important season for this program.
Slotting in as No. 12 in the Associated Press’ Top-25 marks one of Ole Miss’ highest preseason starts, and certainly sits as the highest the Rebels have placed under coach Yo.
The offseason saw Ole Miss conduct three separate roster building tactics: roster retention, keeping many key players from last season’s Sweet 16 run, transfer portal recruiting, pulling in some of the nation’s top transfers and high school recruiting, roping in some of the highest rated recruits in program history.
Of all the talent on the roster, returners Madison Scott and Snudda Collins stood above the rest in the season opener. Scott went for a double-double, racking up 15 points and hauling in 10 rebounds in just 15 minutes; Collins recorded 17 points in her 20 minutes of play to lead all scorers.
The star-studded transfer duo of former North Carolina Tarheel Kennedy Todd-Williams and former Florida Gator KK Deans left their marks in their Rebel debuts — Todd-Williams finished with 10 points and seven rebounds while Deans ended with six points and six assists, which was a game-high.
As a team, the Lady Rebels shot exactly 50% (34/68) from the field and a reasonable but underwhelming 30% (6/20) from beyond the arc. In a season opener, those numbers are promising, especially the overall field goal percentage; the three-point percentage leaves much to be desired for a team that struggled to hang points on the board last season.
The Lady Rebels, however, are still able to hang their hats on the defensive end. This team is too talented to average only 30% from distance for the entire season — that number will steadily rise — but one thing that will always be there is the defense.
Coach Yo’s teams have always carried the mantra “We Defend,” meaning that if nothing else goes right, her squad will make opposing offenses’ lives difficult. Ole Miss put this on full display against the Lions.
Holding them to just 44 points, 31% from the field and 27% from three-point land, says a lot about what this defense is capable of. Individually, Ole Miss has some of the best defenders in the country; collectively, the length and athleticism of this team makes for a unit that no offense ever wants to run into.
Starting off the season 1-0 has to be a great feeling for a team with heightened expectations, but now the focus shifts to Thursday’s matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners, a team that the Lady Rebels lost to 69-59 just a year ago.
This will be the first major test of the season for Ole Miss as the Lady Rebels hope to move to 2-0 on the season. The game will be at the SJB Pavillion and will tipoff at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9.
