Coach Yo and the Rebels came ready to compete, demonstrating their determination to remain a formidable presence in the SEC Tournament. The No. 7 seed Rebels (23-10) kept their hopes alive by leading from start to finish against No. 2 Vanderbilt (27-4) in the quarterfinals on March 6, following a victory over Auburn in the second round.
“We came out and executed our game plan from the jump. These girls know that they’re a good team, but sometimes they shock themselves,” said McPhee-McCuin following the win over Vanderbilt.
Earlier this season, Ole Miss also triumphed over Vanderbilt with an 83-75 win during a game held in Birmingham, Alabama, due to an ice storm that affected Oxford.
On the offensive front, the Rebels displayed impressive teamwork, with three players scoring over 15 points each and shooting an efficient 32-of-56 from the field for a remarkable 57.1 percent success rate. Senior forward Latasha Lattimore led Ole Miss with an outstanding performance of 28 points, while fellow senior forward Cotie McMahon closely followed with 27 points, making an impressive 15 out of 17 free throw attempts.
Vanderbilt showed signs of life in the fourth quarter after trailing by as much as 32 points earlier in the game. They mounted a mini comeback to reduce their deficit to just 11 points, largely fueled by sophomore guard and SEC Player of the Year Mikayla Blakes. After scoring only one point in the first half, Blakes erupted for 23 points in the second half.
A notable moment occurred when Vanderbilt’s head coach Shea Ralph was ejected during this critical match-up. With her team down by 22 points and facing adversity from a foul call against star guard Mikayla Blakes—who had just received her fourth foul—Ralph confronted officials on the court. Following a loose ball scramble where an Ole Miss player landed atop Blakes, Ralph vehemently questioned how it could be deemed a foul against her player.
Despite her protests echoing across half-court—exclaiming frustration at what she perceived as an unjust call—the officials issued two technical fouls against her and promptly ejected her from the game with just under ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
At that moment, Vanderbilt trailed significantly at Bon Secours Wellness Arena with a score of 65-43; Cotie McMahon capitalized on Ralph’s ejection by sinking both resulting free throws. The Commodores struggled early on, managing only six points in the first quarter and finding themselves down 49-17 at halftime, while Blakes went scoreless through ten attempts before finally adding one point via free throw.
After Ralph’s departure from the sidelines, Ole Miss extended their lead to as much as 28 points before Vanderbilt surged back with a spirited 15-0 run that narrowed their deficit to just fifteen—a feat they hadn’t achieved since early in the second quarter when they were heavily outmatched.
“When we say we want to dictate teams, it means we want to force teams to take shots that we want them to take. And when we say we want to disrupt teams, it means we want to stop them from doing anything that they want to do. Our team really believes in that philosophy, and that’s how we approached defending Mikayla,” said McPhee-McCuin .
The Rebels will face No. 3 seed Texas in the semifinals on Saturday at 7 PM ET airing on ESPN 2