Ole Miss women’s basketball has made it through one of the most difficult stretches any team has faced this season.
In a span of only seven days, the Rebels faced four consecutive ranked opponents, including two ranked in the top 10. Ole Miss didn’t come out of it unscathed, though.
Ole Miss went 1-3 during the last week with its lone win coming against No.21 Tennessee on Tuesday. The Rebels suffered losses to No. 17 Kentucky last Sunday, No. 7 LSU on Thursday (with Stephen A. Smith in attendance) and No. 3 South Carolina on Sunday.
“If you look at it half-glass empty, you’ll feel sorry for yourself. If you look at it half-glass full, this was an incredible opportunity,” Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said after Sunday’s 85-48 loss to the Gamecocks. “Only us and Tennessee have experienced a stretch like this. The NCAA Tournament won’t be like this. The SEC Tournament is grueling, but at least it’s not on someone’s home floor.”
How much that stretch hurts or helps Ole Miss in its quest to host a NCAA Regional remains to be seen and with two winnable games to end the regular season, that goal is still within reach.
“I haven’t seen anyone get punished for losing to South Carolina, so hopefully we don’t,” McPhee-McCuin said. “And that’s for whoever needs to hear it. They’re beating teams by 30, and sometimes those teams aren’t even competitive.
“If we move down, I’ll be shocked.”
It’s unknown if the eighth-year Ole Miss coach was shocked Monday, but the Rebels did drop in the latest AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll.
The Rebels dropped two spots in the rankings to No. 19 and saw Michigan State and West Virginia leap over them.
Ole Miss can still play its way to a higher ranking and host a NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The Rebels are set to end the regular season on the road against Florida on Thursday and then at home Sunday against Texas A&M.
After that, it’ll be time for the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
“The next two games are very important for us,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I don’t think we can afford to drop them.”
AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll
- UConn 29-0
- UCLA 27-1
- South Carolina 27-2
- Texas 26-3
- Vanderbilt 25-3
- LSU 24-4
- Oklahoma 21-6
- Michigan 22-5
- Iowa 22-5
- Louisville 24-5
- TCU 25-4
- Duke 20-7
- Ohio State 23-5
- Maryland 22-6
- Michigan State 22-6
- Kentucky 20-8
- West Virginia 22-6
- Baylor 23-6
- Ole Miss 21-8
- Texas Tech 24-5
- North Carolina 23-6
- Minnesota 21-7
- Georgia 20-7
- Alabama 21-7
- Princeton 21-3
Others receiving votes: Colorado 23, Fairfield 18, Tennessee 12, Columbia 10, Rhode Island 7, N Dakota St 7, Virginia 6, Villanova 6, Southern Cal 5, Rice 4, Iowa St. 3, Syracuse 2, Illinois 2, Notre Dame 1, Washington 1, NC State 1.
