Christeen Iwuala scored a team-high 19 points and led her squad with nine rebounds, as Ole Miss defeated Auburn 73-57 Thursday night in Greenville, S.C., in the second round of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Rebels improved to 22-10 overall, while Auburn’s season ended with a record of 15-17.
The victory advances Ole Miss into Friday’s third round where the Rebels will face off against the tourney’s No. 2 seeded Vanderbilt Commodores. Tip-off for that game is 5 p.m. CT and it can be viewed on the SEC Network.
Reigning SEC newcomer of the year Cotie McMahon finished with 13 points, two rebounds and six assists in just 21 minutes of action.
Sira Thienou did not play in the game. Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said earlier this week that Thienou would not play, if she felt it was not in her best interest.
Latasha Lattimore filled in nicely, scoring 13 points off the bench, grabbing four boards and blocking three shots.
Ole Miss dominated the Tigers in the opening minutes of the game and led 21-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Rebels carried a 48-20 lead into halftime.
Auburn chipped into the lead in the third period and trailed 58-37 as action rolled around until the fourth and final quarter. The Rebels’ lead though was simply too much, even as the Tigers won the final stanza 20-15.
Khadi Leye played all but two minutes for Auburn and led them in scoring with 17 points.
FRIDAY’S FOE
Ole Miss will meet Vanderbilt for the second time this season and with great opportunity at hand. Vandy is the tournament’s No. 2 seed and owns a record of 27-3 overall and 13-3 inside the rugged SEC. One of those three losses was to Ole Miss back on Jan. 30, an 83-75 decision in Oxford. A win over the Commodores, ranked No. 5 in this week’s Associated Press poll, would likely go a tremendous way in impressing the NCAA selection committee. Ole Miss is squarely in the Big Dance field, it is trying to improve its seeding.