Ole Miss women's basketball fans celebrate during Friday night's game against Vanderbilt. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss women's basketball fans celebrate during Friday night's game against Vanderbilt. | Ole Miss Athletics

Rebels Dictate and Disrupt No. 5 Vanderbilt to Advance in SEC Tournament

BY Taylor Hodges

Dictate and disrupt.

Simple to say, a lot hard to do. But that’s what No. 24 Ole Miss did against No. 5 Vanderbilt.

The Commodores never led in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal game and, at one point, Ole Miss led by 32 points early in the third quarter.

As detailed below, it was a truly dominant showing but Vanderbilt made it interesting enough to not warrant the addition of “dominate” to the Rebels popular phrase.

Here’s how the game played out that sends Ole Miss onto the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday.

First Half

Dictate and disrupt has become a popular phrase for Ole Miss at the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. After today, “dominate” might need to join the list.

A day after rolling Auburn 73-57, the Rebels came out with even more edge and stunned Vanderbilt with a first half that no one saw coming.

The Commodores managed just six first‑quarter points. National Player of the Year candidate Mikayla Blakes went 0-for-8 from the field and scored only on a free throw. Vanderbilt made just five total field goals, turned it over 11 times, and saw its three best players — Blakes, Sacha Washington, and Aubrey Galvan — all pick up at least two fouls (Blakes had three).

That’s disrupting a high-powered offense that hasn’t scored fewer than 20 points in a half in five years. And Ole Miss wasn’t just disrupting — it was dictating everything.

Turnover? Ole Miss turned it into points, racking up 21 off giveaways.

Ball in the paint? Ole Miss owned it, outscoring Vanderbilt 28-6.

Loose ball? Expect a Rebel to hit the floor first. Tianna Thompson even scooped one up while two Commodores watched it roll by.

That’s how Ole Miss played: second-effort, first-to-the-floor, fully locked in. And it’s put the Rebels in position for a massive SEC Tournament upset.

Of course, what happens in one half can be answered in the next. Ole Miss has to keep the same intensity to finish the job.

Second Half

Any concern about a drop off in the Rebels’ effort in the second half were erased when McMahon went diving into the announcers’ table after a loose ball.

The defensive effort and intensity didn’t wane. Sure, Vanderbilt had its moments and Blakes started to find her shot (8-for-16 on field goals in the second half).

But it wasn’t enough because players like McMahon, Iwuala and Thompson continued to shine.

Thompson had another play that should be on her highlight reel. After missing a three in the fourth quarter, Thompson chased down her own rebound, passed Christeen Iwuala who made the layup.

The Commodores even answered that with a Galvan three-pointer, but like most other things in the second half, Ole Miss didn’t let that start a spark.

What did light a spark for Vanderbilt came with nine minutes when coach Shea Ralph was ejected for arguing with referees.

That launched a 15-0 run that cut the Rebels’ lead to 14 points with five minutes left to play. Two minutes later, the Commodores cut that lead to 11.

Ole Miss had a few turnovers caused as a result of Vanderbilt’s full court press and the shots Vanderbilt was missing in the first 30 minutes of the game, were starting to fall.

The Commodores certainly made it interesting, but the 11-point deficit was the closest they’d come to taking the lead.

So, it may not be a performance worthy of adding another word to “dictate and disrupt,” but it was a good enough showing against a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament to make every other top-ranked team nervous.

Ole Miss Leaders

  • Points: Latasha Lattimore, 28
  • Rebounds: Latasha Lattimore, 8
  • Assists: Cotie McMahon, 7
  • Steals: Tianna Thompson, 2
  • Blocks: Latasha Lattimore/Debreasha Powe, 1

Next Up

Ole Miss advances to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the first time since 2024 and will face the winner of No. 11-seed Alabama vs. No. 3-seed Texas. That game is set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. The Rebels will face the winner at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2.

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