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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, January 9
Oxford, Miss.
5 PM
Ole Miss
vs
Vanderbilt
Women’s Basketball Hosts Vanderbilt for Conference Home Opener
1/8/2025 | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss women's basketball will return to Oxford to kick off a three-game homestand, first hosting Vanderbilt on Thursday, Jan. 9 for its conference home opener. Tipoff between the Rebels and the Commodores is set for 5:00 p.m. CT at SJB Pavilion, streaming on SEC Network+.
TEAM FACTS
RV/RV Ole Miss Rebels (10-4, 1-1 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 7th Season at Ole Miss (113-88) • 12th Season in Career (207-151)
RV/RV Vanderbilt Commodores (14-2, 1-1 SEC)
Head Coach: Shea Ralph • 4th Season at Vanderbilt (65-50) • 4th Season in Career (65-50)
ON THE AIR
Television: SEC Network+
Play-by-Play: Jake Hromada
Color: Lindsay King
Reporter: Loral Winn
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Graham Doty
OLE MISS VS. VANDERBILT
This game is the 56th matchup between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. The Commodores lead the series, which dates to 1978, 35-20. The Rebels hold a 14-10 advantage in Oxford and are on a three-game winning streak in the series. A Rebel has scored 20-or-more points in each of the last three wins against the Commodores. A win on Thursday would mark Ole Miss' first four-game winning streak against Vanderbilt in program history.
Ole Miss' most impressive win against Vanderbilt in its past three outings was in 2022-23, when the Rebels romped the Commodores, 74-53. The second straight win for the Rebels in the series marked the first consecutive wins over the Commodores since 1986 and 1987. Ole Miss shot a season-high 8-16 (.500) from 3-point range in that game. Angel Baker paced the team with 22 points, while Madison Scott nearly got a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Last season, Ole Miss downed Vanderbilt in Nashville, 67-61, for its third straight series win. Marquesha Davis scored 25 points with six rebounds in the win, as Tyia Singleton added 11 rebounds.
The Rebels have had some memorable moments against the Commodores in their 50-year history. Most memorably, in 1992, Ole Miss defeated Vanderbilt, 59-57, to win the program's first SEC Championship. Individually, in 1978, Peggie Gillom recorded the second-most rebounds by a Rebel in program history against the Commodores, bringing in 23.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Head coach Shea Ralph is in her fourth season at the helm of the Vanderbilt women's basketball program. She has led the program to a 14-2 overall start and a 1-1 record in SEC play. Last season, the Commodores made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 10 years after a 23-10 record. She is 0-3 against Ole Miss in her tenure in Nashville.
This matchup puts together the top scoring defense in the nation against one of the top 10 scoring offenses in the nation. The Commodores average nearly double (89.2) the points per game that the Rebels allow (48.4). Vanderbilt is one of the best nationally at spreading the rock and doing so efficiently, boasting top 20 rankings in assists per game and assist/turnover ratio.
Sophomore Khamil Pierre leads the charge for the Commodores in her second season with the program. Pierre has averaged an impressive 22.8 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.47 steals per game. She is in the top 10 nationally in PPG (8), RPG (9), SPG (8), FGs (2) and double doubles (2). She's registered 11 double-doubles on the young season, her most impressive coming against Evansville, where she put up 42 points and 18 rebounds, both career highs.
There will be a freshman showdown between Ole Miss' Sira Thienou and Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes. Blakes, the three-time SEC Freshman of the Week, is averaging 20.6 points, 3.4 assists and 2.8 steals this season. She scored a season-high 36 points in Vanderbilt's season-opener against Georgia.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a strong first half showing, Ole Miss fell short against Texas A&M, 60-58, at Neville Arena.
Ole Miss had a fierce first half, shooting over 50% from the field, but a second half resurgence by Texas A&M gave it the victory when the ticker hit zero.
The Rebels played stingy defense once again throughout, forcing 17 turnovers with nine steals. Seven of the steals came in the first half, in which the Rebels held the Aggies to no 3-point conversions, signifying the seventh consecutive quarter that the Rebels have not given up a basket from beyond the arc. That streak spanned to the fourth quarter of Alcorn State.
Madison Scott led the Rebels with 14 points, her eighth game in double figures and third time pacing the team this season. For her career, Scott has been the top point-scorer for the Rebels 25 times. She also added five rebounds and two assists to her stat sheet.
IN OUR DEFENSE
It's well known that Ole Miss aims to dictate and disrupt, a goal the Rebel defense has accomplished so far.
Ole Miss has held the No. 1 spot in the nation for fewest points allowed per game since Dec. 15. The Rebels are the only team to hold opponents to below an average of 50 points, allowing just 48.4 points per game. Through fourteen games in the 2024-25 season, Ole Miss has forced eight teams to score fewer than 50 points.
The next best defense in the SEC is South Carolina who sits all the way down at No. 22, allowing an average of 55.3 points per game.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
True freshman guard Sira Thienou has wasted little time making her mark as an Ole Miss Rebel as the Bamako, Mali, native has been tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week twice this season, on Nov. 26 and Dec. 17. These recognitions mark the first such honors of her young career and the first awards of its type for an Ole Miss player since Madison Scott earned the same accolade six times as a true freshman during the 2020-21 season.
Thienou scored in double figures in three straight outings for the Rebels in November, including consecutive 16-point outbursts against Jackson State (Nov. 18) and Boston College (Nov. 25). The last time an Ole Miss freshman had a 16-plus point performance was when Scott earned 17 against No. 18 Arkansas, on Feb. 19, 2021.
In December, Thienou registered a career-high 23 points against South Alabama, marking the first 20+ performance by a Rebel this season and the most points scored by a SEC freshman that week. Thienou is the first Ole Miss freshman since the 2020-21 season to put up at least 20 points in a single game.
Top open January, Thienou showed off her defensive prowess against Auburn, stealing the ball a career-high seven times to become the first Rebel to have five steals in a game since Angel Baker did so on Jan. 8, 2023. It also marks the most helpers by any Rebel since Lashonda Monk had the same amount against Alabama on Jan. 13, 2022.
Additionally, Thienou currently holds a six-game double-digit scoring streak, solidifying herself as the only Rebel freshman to achieve this feat since Valencia McFarland in 2010-11.
Leading the Rebels with 12.1 points per game and ten double-digit scoring performances in total, Thienou will look to build on her already notable freshman year in Ole Miss' conference slate.
TURNOVERS ON TURNOVERS
Ole Miss' defense remains its strung suit, forcing all of its fourteen opponents this year to make 15+ turnovers. Additionally, all but two of those teams lost the ball at least 20 times in their matchup with the Rebels.
Ole Miss turned defense into offense all night versus Alabama State, scoring a season-high 42 points off of the Lady Hornet's 33 turnovers. Kicking off conference play with a bang, the Rebels scored 37 points off of Auburn's season-high 29 turnovers.
WE AIN'T SCARED
Yolett McPhee-McCuin values the importance of playing top-tier opponents in non-conference play and it shows in the NCAA's NET Rankings.
Consistently sitting in the Top 25 in the NET Rankings, the Rebels came in at No. 18 in the latest update.
136 GAMES AND COUNTING...
One of the most acclaimed Rebels in program history has met another milestone marker, as Madison Scott has officially entered the top-10 in most games played at Ole Miss.
Competing in 136 games and counting in a Rebel jersey, the graduate student is just 9 games away from surpassing Peggie Gillom, who played in 144 games, for most at Ole Miss.
Along with Scott, Kennedy Todd-Williams has competed in 136 career games, seeing action in 47 games at Ole Miss and 89 with her past team, North Carolina.
STAY CONNECTED WITH THE REBELS
Single-game tickets for the 2024-25 Ole Miss basketball season are on sale now. To purchase or learn more about buying single-game tickets for women's basketball, click here or contact the Ole Miss Athletics ticket office.
Follow the Rebels on X at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB and on Instagram at Ole MissWBB. You can also follow head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on X at @YolettMcCuin.
TEAM FACTS
RV/RV Ole Miss Rebels (10-4, 1-1 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 7th Season at Ole Miss (113-88) • 12th Season in Career (207-151)
RV/RV Vanderbilt Commodores (14-2, 1-1 SEC)
Head Coach: Shea Ralph • 4th Season at Vanderbilt (65-50) • 4th Season in Career (65-50)
ON THE AIR
Television: SEC Network+
Play-by-Play: Jake Hromada
Color: Lindsay King
Reporter: Loral Winn
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Graham Doty
OLE MISS VS. VANDERBILT
This game is the 56th matchup between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. The Commodores lead the series, which dates to 1978, 35-20. The Rebels hold a 14-10 advantage in Oxford and are on a three-game winning streak in the series. A Rebel has scored 20-or-more points in each of the last three wins against the Commodores. A win on Thursday would mark Ole Miss' first four-game winning streak against Vanderbilt in program history.
Ole Miss' most impressive win against Vanderbilt in its past three outings was in 2022-23, when the Rebels romped the Commodores, 74-53. The second straight win for the Rebels in the series marked the first consecutive wins over the Commodores since 1986 and 1987. Ole Miss shot a season-high 8-16 (.500) from 3-point range in that game. Angel Baker paced the team with 22 points, while Madison Scott nearly got a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Last season, Ole Miss downed Vanderbilt in Nashville, 67-61, for its third straight series win. Marquesha Davis scored 25 points with six rebounds in the win, as Tyia Singleton added 11 rebounds.
The Rebels have had some memorable moments against the Commodores in their 50-year history. Most memorably, in 1992, Ole Miss defeated Vanderbilt, 59-57, to win the program's first SEC Championship. Individually, in 1978, Peggie Gillom recorded the second-most rebounds by a Rebel in program history against the Commodores, bringing in 23.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Head coach Shea Ralph is in her fourth season at the helm of the Vanderbilt women's basketball program. She has led the program to a 14-2 overall start and a 1-1 record in SEC play. Last season, the Commodores made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 10 years after a 23-10 record. She is 0-3 against Ole Miss in her tenure in Nashville.
This matchup puts together the top scoring defense in the nation against one of the top 10 scoring offenses in the nation. The Commodores average nearly double (89.2) the points per game that the Rebels allow (48.4). Vanderbilt is one of the best nationally at spreading the rock and doing so efficiently, boasting top 20 rankings in assists per game and assist/turnover ratio.
Sophomore Khamil Pierre leads the charge for the Commodores in her second season with the program. Pierre has averaged an impressive 22.8 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.47 steals per game. She is in the top 10 nationally in PPG (8), RPG (9), SPG (8), FGs (2) and double doubles (2). She's registered 11 double-doubles on the young season, her most impressive coming against Evansville, where she put up 42 points and 18 rebounds, both career highs.
There will be a freshman showdown between Ole Miss' Sira Thienou and Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes. Blakes, the three-time SEC Freshman of the Week, is averaging 20.6 points, 3.4 assists and 2.8 steals this season. She scored a season-high 36 points in Vanderbilt's season-opener against Georgia.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a strong first half showing, Ole Miss fell short against Texas A&M, 60-58, at Neville Arena.
Ole Miss had a fierce first half, shooting over 50% from the field, but a second half resurgence by Texas A&M gave it the victory when the ticker hit zero.
The Rebels played stingy defense once again throughout, forcing 17 turnovers with nine steals. Seven of the steals came in the first half, in which the Rebels held the Aggies to no 3-point conversions, signifying the seventh consecutive quarter that the Rebels have not given up a basket from beyond the arc. That streak spanned to the fourth quarter of Alcorn State.
Madison Scott led the Rebels with 14 points, her eighth game in double figures and third time pacing the team this season. For her career, Scott has been the top point-scorer for the Rebels 25 times. She also added five rebounds and two assists to her stat sheet.
IN OUR DEFENSE
It's well known that Ole Miss aims to dictate and disrupt, a goal the Rebel defense has accomplished so far.
Ole Miss has held the No. 1 spot in the nation for fewest points allowed per game since Dec. 15. The Rebels are the only team to hold opponents to below an average of 50 points, allowing just 48.4 points per game. Through fourteen games in the 2024-25 season, Ole Miss has forced eight teams to score fewer than 50 points.
The next best defense in the SEC is South Carolina who sits all the way down at No. 22, allowing an average of 55.3 points per game.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
True freshman guard Sira Thienou has wasted little time making her mark as an Ole Miss Rebel as the Bamako, Mali, native has been tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week twice this season, on Nov. 26 and Dec. 17. These recognitions mark the first such honors of her young career and the first awards of its type for an Ole Miss player since Madison Scott earned the same accolade six times as a true freshman during the 2020-21 season.
Thienou scored in double figures in three straight outings for the Rebels in November, including consecutive 16-point outbursts against Jackson State (Nov. 18) and Boston College (Nov. 25). The last time an Ole Miss freshman had a 16-plus point performance was when Scott earned 17 against No. 18 Arkansas, on Feb. 19, 2021.
In December, Thienou registered a career-high 23 points against South Alabama, marking the first 20+ performance by a Rebel this season and the most points scored by a SEC freshman that week. Thienou is the first Ole Miss freshman since the 2020-21 season to put up at least 20 points in a single game.
Top open January, Thienou showed off her defensive prowess against Auburn, stealing the ball a career-high seven times to become the first Rebel to have five steals in a game since Angel Baker did so on Jan. 8, 2023. It also marks the most helpers by any Rebel since Lashonda Monk had the same amount against Alabama on Jan. 13, 2022.
Additionally, Thienou currently holds a six-game double-digit scoring streak, solidifying herself as the only Rebel freshman to achieve this feat since Valencia McFarland in 2010-11.
Leading the Rebels with 12.1 points per game and ten double-digit scoring performances in total, Thienou will look to build on her already notable freshman year in Ole Miss' conference slate.
TURNOVERS ON TURNOVERS
Ole Miss' defense remains its strung suit, forcing all of its fourteen opponents this year to make 15+ turnovers. Additionally, all but two of those teams lost the ball at least 20 times in their matchup with the Rebels.
Ole Miss turned defense into offense all night versus Alabama State, scoring a season-high 42 points off of the Lady Hornet's 33 turnovers. Kicking off conference play with a bang, the Rebels scored 37 points off of Auburn's season-high 29 turnovers.
WE AIN'T SCARED
Yolett McPhee-McCuin values the importance of playing top-tier opponents in non-conference play and it shows in the NCAA's NET Rankings.
Consistently sitting in the Top 25 in the NET Rankings, the Rebels came in at No. 18 in the latest update.
136 GAMES AND COUNTING...
One of the most acclaimed Rebels in program history has met another milestone marker, as Madison Scott has officially entered the top-10 in most games played at Ole Miss.
Competing in 136 games and counting in a Rebel jersey, the graduate student is just 9 games away from surpassing Peggie Gillom, who played in 144 games, for most at Ole Miss.
Along with Scott, Kennedy Todd-Williams has competed in 136 career games, seeing action in 47 games at Ole Miss and 89 with her past team, North Carolina.
STAY CONNECTED WITH THE REBELS
Single-game tickets for the 2024-25 Ole Miss basketball season are on sale now. To purchase or learn more about buying single-game tickets for women's basketball, click here or contact the Ole Miss Athletics ticket office.
Follow the Rebels on X at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB and on Instagram at Ole MissWBB. You can also follow head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on X at @YolettMcCuin.
Players Mentioned
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