The 15th-ranked Ole Miss women
The Ole Miss women’s basketball team will hit the road to Austin on Sunday for a top 25 showdown with the Texas Longhorns. The 15th-ranked Rebels (14-2, 1-0 SEC) battle No. 2 Texas (16-0, 1-0 SEC) at 2 p.m. CT from the Moody Center. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
Ole Miss has played Texas nine times and lost eight of the previous affairs.
The Rebels, though, are coming off a dominate 79-62 victory over previously unbeaten Georgia in the SEC opener for both teams. Texas won on the road, 89-71, at Missouri in its SEC opener a few days ago. The Longhorns own victories over five top 25 opponents, including a 66-64 non-conference win over South Carolina in November in tournament action. The Rebels most impressive win, so far, has been a 69-62 home victory over No. 18 Notre Dame on Dec. 4.
“It’s Texas,” said Ole Miss senior Cotie McMahon who transferred from Ohio State over the off-season. “They’re a really big basketball school. (Texas head coach) Vic Schaefer is obviously a great. I’m sure the atmosphere will be very intense, very loud. I feel like it will be a pretty good crowd.”
McMahon leads the Rebels with an average of 18.9 points per game.
ARE THEY READY?
What did Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin learn about her squad in the blowout victory over Georgia on New Year’s Day?
“My group is resilient. I’ve always believed in this group. I asked them to come here,” said McPhee-McCuin, whose roster this year is made up of 83 percent newcomers.
“We had those 15 games, but right now, it’s zero, zero. If you’ve got a shot knock it down. If you have a look, make it.
“For us, we want to take everything one game at time. We understand that Texas is a good team, and we’ve been in a lot of wars with them lately. Before, it wasn’t even close, but lately it’s been a lot of wars. We’ll get together and see what we can do to put up a good game plan. We’re going to take everything 1-0, and when it’s over, whether it’s a win we’ll move on, whether it’s a loss we’ll move on.”
IUWALA IS BACK
After an absence due to injury, center Christeen Iuwala returned to the lineup versus Georgia. She scored 12 points and gathered seven rebounds versus the Bulldogs, though her stride up and down the court sometimes appeared stressed.
Iuwala has been particularly effective on the offensive end f the court, ranking third in the SEC and 23rd in the nation in offensive rebounds with 3.9 per game.
Iuwala, coupled with McMahon, has supplied Ole Miss with 42 percent of its point production this season.
HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN
Television: ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Roy Philpott
Color: Andraya Carter
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Graham Doty
| conf | cpct | overall | opct | home | road | neutral | strk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Texas | 1-0 | 1.000 | 16-0 | 1.000 | 10-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 | W16 |
 Vanderbilt | 1-0 | 1.000 | 14-0 | 1.000 | 8-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 | W14 |
 Kentucky | 1-0 | 1.000 | 14-1 | 0.933 | 7-0 | 6-0 | 1-1 | W7 |
 Mississippi State | 1-0 | 1.000 | 14-1 | 0.933 | 11-0 | 1-1 | 2-0 | W10 |
 South Carolina | 1-0 | 1.000 | 14-1 | 0.933 | 9-0 | 3-0 | 2-1 | W7 |
 Oklahoma | 1-0 | 1.000 | 13-1 | 0.929 | 8-0 | 2-0 | 3-1 | W12 |
 Ole Miss | 1-0 | 1.000 | 14-2 | 0.875 | 9-0 | 2-0 | 3-2 | W2 |
 Tennessee | 1-0 | 1.000 | 9-3 | 0.750 | 6-0 | 3-1 | 0-2 | W2 |
 Alabama | 0-1 | 0.000 | 14-1 | 0.933 | 12-0 | 0-1 | 2-0 | L1 |
 Georgia | 0-1 | 0.000 | 14-1 | 0.933 | 8-0 | 2-1 | 4-0 | L1 |
 LSU | 0-1 | 0.000 | 14-1 | 0.933 | 7-1 | 4-0 | 3-0 | L1 |
 Florida | 0-1 | 0.000 | 12-4 | 0.750 | 9-1 | 1-3 | 2-0 | L1 |
 Missouri | 0-1 | 0.000 | 12-4 | 0.750 | 7-3 | 2-0 | 3-1 | L1 |
 Auburn | 0-1 | 0.000 | 11-4 | 0.733 | 7-1 | 2-3 | 2-0 | L1 |
 Texas A&M | 0-1 | 0.000 | 7-3 | 0.700 | 4-2 | 1-0 | 2-1 | L1 |
 Arkansas | 0-1 | 0.000 | 11-5 | 0.688 | 8-3 | 1-2 | 2-0 | L2 |