Talk is cheap and there was a lot of talk about how tough the SEC’s women’s basketball conference would be.
The conference sent eight teams to last season’s NCAA Tournament and currently have eight teams ranked in the latest AP Top 25 Poll with two more receiving votes. Half of the current top 10 is ranked teams.
Still, though, if there was any doubt the start of conference play is showing how tough the season will be.
Take No. 18 Ole Miss for example. The Rebels just played at No. 2 Texas and four days later will face No. 5 Oklahoma, also on the road. That’s life in the SEC.
“That’s the thing that’s challenging about this league,” Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said on Tuesday. “You play one team, and that’s one style. Then you play another team, and it’s a totally different style. Oklahoma’s style is completely different from Texas.
“Texas is going to be a ground and pound game. Oklahoma will pound you, but they also want to put 100 on you if they can.”
“We say every single day, the SEC is really tough,” Ole Miss sophomore guard Sira Thienou said. “No game is an easy game. Every night is a fight, and we just have to be ready every time to go.”
The Rebels certainly didn’t have an easy game against the Longhorns. They rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to have a shot at a game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer, but missed.
Now Ole Miss gets to face an Oklahoma team that forced Mississippi State into its worst performance of the season in a 95-47 win.
Adding to the difficulty factor is the Rebels currently have a three-game losing streak to the Sooners. All three losses have been by exactly 10 points.
“Every time we’ve played Oklahoma it’s always been a close game because we’ve done a good job of dictating the tempo,” McPhee-McCuin said. “If we allow them to dictate the tempo by taking quick shots or doing uncharacteristic things that are not advantageous for us, it can get ugly pretty quickly.”
How to Watch: No. 18 Ole Miss at No. 5 Oklahoma
- Who: No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels (14-3, 1-1 SEC) at No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners (14-1, 2-0 SEC)
- When: 6 p.m., Thursday
- Where: Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Okla.
- TV:Â SECN+
- Radio:Â Live Radio
- Stats:Â Live Stats
- Series History: Oklahoma leads the all-time series 4-2
- Last Meeting: Oklahoma 66, Ole Miss 56 (February 6, 2025)
- Last time out, Rebels: lost to No. 2 Texas, 67-64
- Last time out, Sooners: def. Mississippi State, 95-47
Ole Miss Top Performers
- Points: Cotie McMahon, 18.9 ppg
- Rebounds: Christeen Iwuala, 8.7 rpg
- Assists: Sira Thienou, 47
- Blocks: Latasha Lattimore, 38
- Steals: Sira Thienou, 29
Oklahoma Top Performers
- Points: Aaliyah Chavez, 18.9 ppg
- Rebounds: Raegan Beers, 10.8 rpg
- Assists: Aaliyah Chavez, 66
- Blocks: Raegan Beers, 17
- Steals: Zya Vann, 42
