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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Sunday, March 28
Collierville, Tenn.
1 PM
Ole Miss
15-12,4-10SEC
58
vs
71
Rice
-234,122 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Rice
17
17
18
19
71
Ole Miss
13
10
17
18
58
Late Charge Not Enough as Ole Miss Falls to Rice in WNIT Final, 71-58
3/28/2021 | Women's Basketball
Rebels Finish 15-12, First Winning Season Since 2016-17
COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. – Ole Miss gave all it had left to cut what was once a 16-point second half deficit down to four, but a superb and clinical Rice team never faltered, taking command of the game back to defeat the Rebels, 71-58, in the WNIT championship game Sunday afternoon.
The Rebels (15-12) finish with their first winning season since 2016-17, and that late-game rally encapsulated all that was great about this young and exciting team that had fought through so much adversity. Rice (23-4), which had a serious case to make for being excluded from the NCAA Tournament, took the WNIT crown following a surgical 50 percent shooting effort, a perfect 17-of-17 mark from the free throw line, and two demonstrative games from Lauren Schwartz (19 points, five assists) and Nancy Mulkey (19 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks).
"Super proud of my team," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, who willed this team to an incredible turnaround from an 0-16 SEC season in 2019-20 to a postseason tournament runner-up this year. "When I went out with COVID, some of my close friends told me we wouldn't get out of the first round, just because my team depends on my effort and energy so much. Yet, we're playing in the championship game against a Rice team that was ultra-experienced. Of course, we wanted to win, but in hindsight if we couldn't win then I still feel like I got a victory for this program out of this. I know that may sound cheesy to some people. I could list the wins that we got from this experience and this season. Obviously my team is heartbroken, but I talked to them about good things that they did, and I am very appreciative of them."
Rice was poised from the jump, causing mayhem in transition and negating what had been a lethal Ole Miss defense. The Owls fought fire with fire, too, holding the Rebels to a meager 21.2 percent shooting clip in the first half en route to 34-23 halftime lead. Rice extended that lead out to 16 points by the 8:22 mark of the third quarter and led 52-40 heading into the fourth, but with 10 minutes left in their season the Rebel defense roared back to life.
Ole Miss ripped off a 10-0 run thanks to a ferocious defensive effort, during which included three turnovers forced and a block. On the game, the Rebels scored 23 points off of Rice's 24 turnovers, but Rice's inability to miss from the free throw line and the powerful one-two punch of Mulkey and Schwartz proved too much in the end as Rice extended back out to its eventual 13-point win.
"I was telling the team that two years ago, Rice was in the NCAA Tournament. Those same kids played in the tournament," McPhee-McCuin said. "They understood the moment, you could tell from the beginning of the game. They understood it and my players didn't. The only player that has played postseason for me is Shakira Austin. I don't have any other players that have played in postseason. So, they understood the moment and we didn't. I don't know how to explain that other than that's what happened the whole game. Even when we made a run back, I felt that they were in control the whole 40 minutes."
Ole Miss star junior forward Shakira Austin had her hands full with the 6-foot-9 Mulkey, but held her own, scoring 25 points, hauling in nine rebounds and tying a season-high five blocks of her own against the Owls. She was named All-Tournament, and ended with an absurd WNIT stat line of 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.2 steals, 1.2 assists, while shooting 51.4 percent overall and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.
"Shakira is special. We have one more year with her, so we definitely have to make it work for us," McPhee-McCuin said. "She's going to go in the draft, hopefully top-three next year. There are somethings we're going to do to improve her game. I just told her I appreciate her."
"I mean I thought it was great, Mulkey did some really good stuff though. I underestimated her experience," McPhee-McCuin continued. "She did some really good things, but if I'm going to have to choose, I'm always going to go with Shakira Austin."
Donnetta Johnson also earned an All-Tournament nod following an eight-point, nine-rebound outing vs. Rice. On the WNIT, Johnson averaged 10.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals.
Sunday wraps up an exciting, yet trying, 2020-21 season. Ole Miss improved by eight wins and bounced back from a winless conference season to a 15-12 record, its first postseason since 2016-17, its first postseason win since 2015, and its first-ever trip to a postseason semifinal or final – NCAA or WNIT – and did so with the NCAA's 10th-youngest roster all during a once-in-a-century global pandemic that shortened the season and affected the team on multiple occasions.
When asked postgame about whether or not she saw the team here this year, all Coach Yo could do was laugh.
"We started off this season and Shakira didn't even know that she was eligible to play. We had a bunch of freshmen, so hard to coach freshman y'all. It's gratifying yet painful too, since they don't know what they don't know," McPhee-McCuin said. "That's why I'm not on here crying. This is a win for our program. We had three bleachers filled. You put that in The Pavilion and it's rocking next year. I'm in it for the long haul, y'all. This is just a step in the right direction."
Ole Miss is not scheduled to lose any student-athlete from this roster due to graduation, and should welcome back center Andeija Puckett, who missed the season with a preseason injury. Now with postseason experience under their belts, the Rebels have their sights set on playing in March once again.
"The fact is that six of the teams that are in the NCAA Tournament, four of them that were in the Sweet 16 were in the finals of the WNIT. Two of them that won the championship are in the Elite Eight. It's encouraging to say the least," McPhee-McCuin said. "We really needed this experience. We'll have a healthy AP back, we're going to recruit real hard. We have some holes that we have to fill, that we will fill, I can promise you that. I feel good about saying that if you're going to place a bet that we'll be a part of the 64 next year as we continue to grow."
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB and on Instagram at Ole MissWBB. You can also follow head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on Twitter at @YolettMcCuin
The Rebels (15-12) finish with their first winning season since 2016-17, and that late-game rally encapsulated all that was great about this young and exciting team that had fought through so much adversity. Rice (23-4), which had a serious case to make for being excluded from the NCAA Tournament, took the WNIT crown following a surgical 50 percent shooting effort, a perfect 17-of-17 mark from the free throw line, and two demonstrative games from Lauren Schwartz (19 points, five assists) and Nancy Mulkey (19 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks).
"Super proud of my team," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, who willed this team to an incredible turnaround from an 0-16 SEC season in 2019-20 to a postseason tournament runner-up this year. "When I went out with COVID, some of my close friends told me we wouldn't get out of the first round, just because my team depends on my effort and energy so much. Yet, we're playing in the championship game against a Rice team that was ultra-experienced. Of course, we wanted to win, but in hindsight if we couldn't win then I still feel like I got a victory for this program out of this. I know that may sound cheesy to some people. I could list the wins that we got from this experience and this season. Obviously my team is heartbroken, but I talked to them about good things that they did, and I am very appreciative of them."
Rice was poised from the jump, causing mayhem in transition and negating what had been a lethal Ole Miss defense. The Owls fought fire with fire, too, holding the Rebels to a meager 21.2 percent shooting clip in the first half en route to 34-23 halftime lead. Rice extended that lead out to 16 points by the 8:22 mark of the third quarter and led 52-40 heading into the fourth, but with 10 minutes left in their season the Rebel defense roared back to life.
Ole Miss ripped off a 10-0 run thanks to a ferocious defensive effort, during which included three turnovers forced and a block. On the game, the Rebels scored 23 points off of Rice's 24 turnovers, but Rice's inability to miss from the free throw line and the powerful one-two punch of Mulkey and Schwartz proved too much in the end as Rice extended back out to its eventual 13-point win.
"I was telling the team that two years ago, Rice was in the NCAA Tournament. Those same kids played in the tournament," McPhee-McCuin said. "They understood the moment, you could tell from the beginning of the game. They understood it and my players didn't. The only player that has played postseason for me is Shakira Austin. I don't have any other players that have played in postseason. So, they understood the moment and we didn't. I don't know how to explain that other than that's what happened the whole game. Even when we made a run back, I felt that they were in control the whole 40 minutes."
Ole Miss star junior forward Shakira Austin had her hands full with the 6-foot-9 Mulkey, but held her own, scoring 25 points, hauling in nine rebounds and tying a season-high five blocks of her own against the Owls. She was named All-Tournament, and ended with an absurd WNIT stat line of 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.2 steals, 1.2 assists, while shooting 51.4 percent overall and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.
"Shakira is special. We have one more year with her, so we definitely have to make it work for us," McPhee-McCuin said. "She's going to go in the draft, hopefully top-three next year. There are somethings we're going to do to improve her game. I just told her I appreciate her."
"I mean I thought it was great, Mulkey did some really good stuff though. I underestimated her experience," McPhee-McCuin continued. "She did some really good things, but if I'm going to have to choose, I'm always going to go with Shakira Austin."
Donnetta Johnson also earned an All-Tournament nod following an eight-point, nine-rebound outing vs. Rice. On the WNIT, Johnson averaged 10.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals.
Sunday wraps up an exciting, yet trying, 2020-21 season. Ole Miss improved by eight wins and bounced back from a winless conference season to a 15-12 record, its first postseason since 2016-17, its first postseason win since 2015, and its first-ever trip to a postseason semifinal or final – NCAA or WNIT – and did so with the NCAA's 10th-youngest roster all during a once-in-a-century global pandemic that shortened the season and affected the team on multiple occasions.
When asked postgame about whether or not she saw the team here this year, all Coach Yo could do was laugh.
"We started off this season and Shakira didn't even know that she was eligible to play. We had a bunch of freshmen, so hard to coach freshman y'all. It's gratifying yet painful too, since they don't know what they don't know," McPhee-McCuin said. "That's why I'm not on here crying. This is a win for our program. We had three bleachers filled. You put that in The Pavilion and it's rocking next year. I'm in it for the long haul, y'all. This is just a step in the right direction."
Ole Miss is not scheduled to lose any student-athlete from this roster due to graduation, and should welcome back center Andeija Puckett, who missed the season with a preseason injury. Now with postseason experience under their belts, the Rebels have their sights set on playing in March once again.
"The fact is that six of the teams that are in the NCAA Tournament, four of them that were in the Sweet 16 were in the finals of the WNIT. Two of them that won the championship are in the Elite Eight. It's encouraging to say the least," McPhee-McCuin said. "We really needed this experience. We'll have a healthy AP back, we're going to recruit real hard. We have some holes that we have to fill, that we will fill, I can promise you that. I feel good about saying that if you're going to place a bet that we'll be a part of the 64 next year as we continue to grow."
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB and on Instagram at Ole MissWBB. You can also follow head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on Twitter at @YolettMcCuin
Team Stats
Rice
OM
FG%
.500
.300
3FG%
.444
.000
FT%
1.000
.727
RB
39
37
TO
24
15
STL
9
16
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
C
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