WACO, Texas - Two days after beating Ball State women’s basketball in the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, Ole Miss is heading to the NCAA Sweet 16 after defeating Baylor.
Ole Miss will travel to Spokane, Washington to face the winner of UCLA vs. Richmond on March 28 with the time to be decided.
The Rebels downed the Bears 69-63 at the University of Baylor hosting sight in Waco, Texas.
Baylor entered the locker room up 29-26 after a 10-0 run. But right out of the half, Ole Miss responded with a 6-0 run for themselves.
Ole Miss head coach Yollett McPhee-McCuin said the Rebels were “riled up” in the locker room from their second-quarter performance. Ole Miss only scored six points in the quarter.
Graduate student Madison Scott said the halftime message was that the Rebels were not ready to go home yet. Scott said they were calling each other soft during the break.
“The message was to have no regrets when that buzzer ended,” Scott said. “And look, no regrets.”
After the six-point quarter, Ole Miss scored 22 points in the third quarter and 21 points in the fourth frame.
True freshman Sira Thienou led Ole Miss with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field with six rebounds.
The freshman said every game someone has to step up, and it happened to be her today. She said it does not matter what grade she is, someone had to step up and go score.
Ole Miss forced Baylor to turn it over 21 times, with four turnovers coming in the game-deciding fourth quarter.
“The shots aren't always going to fall, but one thing that's always going to be there's our defense,” Scott said. “That's a real thing.”
The game was tied with just minutes left in the game, but graduate student KK Deans iced the game by sinking six consecutive free throws.
“She is completely bought in, so I’m really happy for her,” McPhee-McCuin said. “She deserves this more just as much as anybody else.”
The trip to the Sweet 16 marks the second time in three seasons that McPhee-McCuin and Ole Miss have made it.
Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.
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