Women’s Basketball Concludes Nonconference Play with Win Over Alcorn State

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 15/17 Ole Miss women’s basketball escaped an early deficit to Alcorn State to emerge victorious, 64-44, in the nonconference finale on Sunday afternoon at the SJB Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi.

Ole Miss (13-2, 0-0 SEC) will enter SEC play with the most wins in a nonconference slate in the 21st century. No Rebel squad has begun SEC with at least 13 wins since 2000, except for head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s Team 51. Additionally, by defeating Alcorn State (3-8, 0-0 SWAC), the Rebels went undefeated in nonconference games at the SJB Pavilion with seven wins. It’s the fourth time under McPhee-McCuin and marks back-to-back seasons when Ole Miss recorded the same feat.

Latasha Lattimore had an impressive game from start-to-finish for the Rebels, recording her second double-double of the season and 15th of her overall career. She scored 14 points and brought down 12 rebounds, while also swatting four Alcorn State shots. Lattimore has five games this season with at least three blocks, four of which have come in the last five games. She’s recorded at least one block in nine consecutive competitions. Rita Igbokwe, who had a 10-game block streak and six games with at least three blocks in 2023-24, is the most recent Rebel to have this stretch of dominance in the paint.

Latasha does it again ??

15th career double-double (2nd this season) + season-high 12 rebounds#HottyToddy x #Give pic.twitter.com/Pyhq91H1O2
— Ole Miss Women's BB (@OleMissWBB) December 28, 2025

Cotie McMahon was once again Ole Miss’ top scorer of the day, dropping 21 points, her seventh game this season north of 20 points. With her double-digit scoring, she has scored at least 10 points in each of Ole Miss’ first 15 games this season, surpassing Shandricka Sessom’s 14-game mark set in 2015-16. McMahon now sets her sights on Nikki Byrd, who started the 2011-12 season with 17 consecutive games of double-digit points. Should she keep her pace, McMahon will tie Byrd against Texas and pass her against Oklahoma.

Sira Thienou had a balanced game as well, scoring nine points with nine rebounds. She came one point and one rebound shy of her first career double-double. She also tallied three assists, two steals and a block, while giving up only one turnover.

McMahon and Lattimore collaborated on Ole Miss’ first 10 points of the game, scoring five apiece. Alcorn State remained close on the scoreboard, switching the lead seven times in the first quarter alone. However, the Lady Braves played careless defense and committed seven fouls, allowing the Rebels to maintain a close score from the free throw line, despite a drought in converted field goals. Lattimore led Ole Miss into the second quarter with seven points toward a 19-17 lead.

Cotie off to a red hot start ??@cotiemcmahon23 x #HottyToddy x #Give pic.twitter.com/VuDV9OZzDh
— Ole Miss Women's BB (@OleMissWBB) December 28, 2025

McMahon converted an impressive turnaround jumper to begin the second, but scoring for both sides would once again slow. After the Lady Braves retaliated with a 3-pointer, they would go on a scoring drought that lasted over three minutes. Through the first 15 minutes of the game, Ole Miss had counted five blocks against Alcorn State to help keep the ball out of the hoop. Those blocks were not enough to prevent Alcorn State from going on a run of its own while keeping Ole Miss from making its field goals. With that, the Lady Braves led 30-28 going into the final 20 minutes.

With their backs against the wall, the Rebels began to turn up the heat offensively. McMahon once again began the scoring for Ole Miss to reach 10 points for the day but then allowed Alcorn State to take a five-point lead. However, Tianna Thompson drained a deep ball to help kickstart a 18-0 run to retake the lead. That run lasted for the remainder of the quarter as Ole Miss steadily built its largest lead of the day. Thienou stepped up for the Rebels in the quarter, scoring five points and hauling in four rebounds as the Rebels had a comfortable 48-35 lead entering the fourth.

The duo we needed ??#NCAAWBB x ?? SECN+ / @OleMissWBB pic.twitter.com/c9UV7PJ2gb
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) December 28, 2025

Alcorn State’s scoring woes continued deep into the fourth quarter, as Ole Miss’ defense continued to stifle the Lady Braves. Their first bucket came with just under seven minutes to go in the game, marking the end of a quarter-long drought of scoring. By that point, Ole Miss’ lead was insurmountable after McMahon scored six straight points for the Rebels to increase the lead to more than 20. The waning moments of the game saw the Rebels slow offensively as more players got to see the court, but their defense remained strong. The game saw its end after four converted free throws between both teams, seeing the final score of 64-44.

SEC competition begins next for Ole Miss, as it welcomes 2026 with a bout against Georgia on New Year’s Day at the SJB Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT and will be streamed on SECN+.

Single game tickets for the 2025-26 campaign are on sale now. Click here to secure yours today or visit OleMissTix.com.

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.