The Ole Miss women’s basketball team will attempt to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding in a second-round SEC Tournament game today from Greenville, S.C. The Rebels (21-10, 8-8 SEC) battle the Auburn Tigers (15-16, 3-13 SEC) at 5 p.m. CT.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
First, it is the obvious. The winner stays alive in the SEC Tournament and will be rewarded with a chance to play well-rested and second-seeded Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. CT Friday.
While Auburn is simply playing to extend its season one more game, Ole Miss has much more on the line. After a late-season collapse that saw Ole Miss lose six of its last eight contests, including decisions to Florida and Texas A&M to close the regular season, the Rebels need to find their mojo once again. No matter what happens, Ole Miss is a lock for the Big Dance, but the Rebels seem to be rolling the roulette wheel on just how far their NCAA Tournament seeding can fall. Tired legs? OK. Beat up and battered? Yes. We’re not making excuses because that’s just life in America’s toughest women’s basketball conference. The bottom line are the results of the games.
LATEST BRACKETOLOGY
Ole Miss is a No. 6 seed in the latest ESPN/Charlie Creme bracketology released Thursday morning. Creme has the Rebels headed to Durham, N.C., for regional action with first-round opponent No. 11 seed Columbia. The other first-round matchup at Durham s projected to be host and No. 3 seeded Duke and No. 14 seed Vermont.
Two weeks ago, there was hope Oxford would host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Barring a run to the SEC title game, that hope is over.
SCOUTING THE AUBURN TIGERS
Larry Vickers is in his first season leading Auburn’s women’s basketball program. He previously held a successful stint as Norfolk State’s head coach, leading the Spartans on one of their most successful periods in program history. This is his first-time coaching at the Power Four level.
Vickers has guided Auburn to a 15-16 overall record, with a 3-13 mark against SEC foes in his first year with the program. The Tigers began the season 8-0 and their most impressive win has come against No. 21 Alabama, when Auburn claimed a narrow 58-54 win. Auburn is coming off a 50-49 win over 10th-seeded Texas A&M in the first round of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament as the No. 15. seed.
Freshman guard Harissoum Coulibaly has been Auburn’s leading scorer this season, averaging 10.7 points per game. Guard Kaitlyn Duhon and forward Khady Leye are just behind Coulibaly with 9.9 and 9.3 points per game, respectively. Leye is also Auburn’s leading rebounder with 5.2 per game, and is coming off an 11-point, 15 rebound outing in the preliminary round.
Thievery highlights Auburn’s defensive efforts, as it averages 11.1 steals per game. That’s fourth in the SEC entering this tournament. Duhon and Coulibaly are mostly to thank for that, as they average a combined 4.7 steals per game between the two of them. Duhon has secured 95 total steals this season, which is tops in the SEC and 10th in the country. In turn, Auburn forces 19.80 turnovers per game, putting it fourth in the conference in that mark.
Cotie McMahon
SUPERSTAR COTIE
Cotie McMahon is “banged up,” according to sources. Of course, she will play, but will she play up to her dynamite-like standards?
Her struggles were demonstrable in the Rebels’ most recent 66-58 loss to Texas A&M inside the Pavilion. Though McMahon scored a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds, she just seemed to never find that extra gear we’ve all grown accustomed to seeing this season. In other words, it was a rather quiet 19 and nine in a single-digit, home loss.
McMahon has reached double-digit scoring marks 29 times this season.Â
Teammate Sierra Thienou is also banged up and questionable for tonight’s game.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
ON THE AIR
Television: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: Tiffany Greene
Color: Carolyn Peck
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Graham Doty
SEC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
First-Round Games
No. 9 Kentucky 94, No. 16 Arkansas 64
No. 12 Florida 86, No. 13 Miss. State 68
No. 15 Auburn 50, No. 10 Texas A&M 49
No. 11 Alabama 65, No. 14 Missouri 48
Thursday’s Games
No. 9 Kentucky vs. No. 8 Georgia | 10 a.m. CT
No. 12 Florida vs. No. 5 Oklahoma | Following
No. 15 Auburn vs. No. 7 Ole Miss | 5 p.m. CT
No. 11 Alabama vs. No. 6 Tennessee | Following