Ole Miss women's basketball coaches and players celebrate a three-pointer in the first half of an SEC Tournament first-round game. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss women's basketball coaches and players celebrate a three-pointer in the first half of an SEC Tournament first-round game. | Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss Rolls Past Auburn with Dominant First Half in SEC Tournament

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss didn’t need perfection to beat Auburn 73–57, but the Rebels did need a reminder of who they can be after a four-game losing streak at the end of the regular season.

They found it early, putting together one of their sharpest first halves of the season before spending the second half managing the lead, absorbing Auburn’s push, and leaning on their best players to close it out.

The two halves told different stories, both of them useful as Ole Miss turns the page to tomorrow.

First Half Reaction

That may have been the best 20 consecutive minutes Ole Miss has played all season and certainly the best in the last two weeks. The Rebels brought an incredible amount of energy and defensive intensity, the kind that should make coach Yolett McPhee‑McCuin smile.

Ole Miss held Auburn to six first‑quarter points and just 20 in the half. The 48-20 halftime lead is the largest this season for Ole Miss. Cotie McMahon and Christeen Iwuala nearly outscored the Tigers by themselves. McMahon had a game‑high 11 points, and Iwuala went a perfect 5‑for‑5 from the field.

They dominated the glass 23-7, with Iwuala grabbing seven rebounds, matching Auburn’s entire team total.

Auburn shot just 27% and didn’t make a field goal until the three‑minute mark of the first quarter.

That opening period was rough, but given how active Ole Miss was defensively — hands in passing lanes, clean switches, help rotations, and a full‑court press for most of the half — it’s not hard to see why.

The defensive pressure produced a pair of shot‑clock violations and contributed to Auburn’s seven turnovers, a number the Tigers should gladly take since it matches Ole Miss’s total.

Offensively, the Rebels’ energy is spreading. They went 6‑for‑9 from three, with Denim DeShields and Lauren Jacobs each hitting two and Kaitlin Peterson and McMahon adding one apiece. Not bad for a team shooting just 28.5% from deep this season.

This is starting to look a lot like the regular‑season meeting Ole Miss won 71-45. If Auburn doesn’t find answers quickly, matching even that point total may be a challenge.

Second Half Reaction

Auburn was never going to fade quietly, and the Tigers didn’t. They outscored Ole Miss 17-10 in the third quarter and finally found some rhythm. But the Rebels still carried a 19‑point cushion, and whatever momentum Auburn built evaporated once McMahon and Iwuala checked back in midway through the period.

Auburn didn’t make a field goal in the final four minutes of the quarter, and the hole from the first half was simply too deep to climb out of.

Credit the Tigers for forcing Ole Miss to lean on its best players longer than planned, but the difference was obvious. When McMahon and Iwuala were on the floor, Ole Miss controlled the game.

Iwuala remained the most reliable presence on either roster. She finished a perfect 8‑for‑8 for 18 points and nine rebounds, owning the interior from start to finish.

McMahon added 13 points and six assists, doing more facilitating than scoring after halftime. Latasha Lattimore benefited from that shift, scoring 13 points with four rebounds and three blocks, including a couple of finishes directly off McMahon’s passes.

It wasn’t the wire‑to‑wire second‑half dominance Ole Miss might have wanted, but it didn’t need to be.

The Rebels protected the lead, got meaningful production from their core, and walked away with enough positives to feel encouraged about what comes next.

Ole Miss Top Performers

  • Points: Christeen Iwuala, 18
  • Rebounds: Christeen Iwuala, 9
  • Assists: Cotie McMahon, 6
  • Steals: Tianna Thompson, 2
  • Blocks: Latasha Lattimore, 6

Next Up

Ole Miss moves on to the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament and will face a team it’s already upset once this season on a neutral court.

It was about a month ago the Rebels defeated then-No. 5 Vanderbilt 83-75 in Birmingham, Ala. Tipoff Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. on SEC Network.

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