Yolett McPhee-McCuin has assembled a very veteran roster. Seven players on her team are seniors. But not many of them were at Ole Miss before this season, and the team is still working through the unfamiliarity that comes with having so many new players and putting them in new positions. McPhee-McCuin reminded everyone of that after a 74-57 loss to Kentucky.
“We have ten new players and we have two that are playing in roles that they usually don’t play,” McPhee-McCuin said. “So, while everybody wants us to be this well-oiled machine, we’re not going to be. We’re going to have ebbs and flows, especially when we’re in league where everybody knows everybody.”
Ups and downs are very normal for a team with a pretty much completely revamped roster made up of players who have little familiarity with each other, but those inconsistencies could quickly end Ole Miss’ season when March Madness rolls around.
The Rebels are largely made up of transfers
Out of the twelve players on the roster, nine are completely new to the team. Lauren Jacobs is a freshman, and eight others transferred to Ole Miss from different programs. That list of transfers includes six of the eight leaders in minutes per game.
Cotie McMahon, the team’s top scorer and biggest star, transferred to Ole Miss from Ohio State. Debreasha Powe and Denim DeShields came over from Mississippi State. Latasha Lattimore joined the team after playing for the Virginia Cavaliers, Kaitlin Peterson left UCF to come to Ole Miss, and Tienna Thompson came over from Georgia Tech.
Only Christeen Iwuala and Sira Thienou played meaningful minutes for Ole Miss last season. Iwuala averaged 16 minutes per game. Now, she is a full-time starter and averages 27.6 minutes. Thienou ranks second in minutes per game behind only McMahon after averaging roughly 25 minutes as a freshman at Ole Miss. J’Adore Young also isn’t technically new to the roster, but she only played seven games in the 2023-24 season and missed last season altogether.
Ole Miss has gotten some good wins
The Rebels suffered some bad losses, like the 74-57 defeat to Kentucky or a 66-49 loss to Michigan State. They also got some big wins, though, beating Vanderbilt 83-75 and taking down Oklahoma in a five-point win.
Those victories over top teams bode well for Ole Miss’s chances in the NCAA Tournament. However, to avoid early elimination, the Rebels will have to consistently play their best.
Before March Madness, Ole Miss still has to deal with Tennessee, LSU, and South Carolina. The latter two rank sixth and third, respectively, and Tennessee just gave the Texas Longhorns everything they could handle.