Ole Miss Women’s Basketball Opens Season Against McNeese State

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

The Ole Miss women’s basketball team will open the 2020-21 season Monday evening as they welcome the McNeese State Cowgirls into the Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network +.

Ole Miss (0-0, 0-0 SEC) is entering its third season under the direction of head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. In the past two seasons, she has brought the number one signing class in the SEC in 2019 that was highlighted by five-star signees Madison Scott and Jacorriah Bracey and improved by the addition of ESPN’s No. 1 rated transfer in 2020, Shakira Austin.

Austin comes to Oxford after playing at Maryland. She was a significant contributor on two Big Ten championship teams at Maryland in 2019 and 2020, averaging 10.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, while shooting 47.2 percent overall in 66 games and 47 starts during her two years with the Terrapins. Austin shattered the Maryland single-season blocks record her freshman season with 89, earning her a spot on both the Big Ten Defensive Team and All-Freshman team, and followed that up with a slot on the 2020 All-Big Ten Second Team after ranking No. 1 nationally in 2019-20 in advanced analytic On-Court Forced Turnover Rate (via Pivot Analysis). Coming out of Riverdale Baptist, Austin was ESPN’s No. 3 overall prospect and a McDonald’s All-American.

In the preseason, the Rebels lost redshirt junior Andeija Puckett to a season-ending knee injury after sitting out all of 2019-20 due to NCAA transfer rules. Puckett transferred to Ole Miss from Cincinnati, where she contributed for two seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Puckett played in all 35 games for the Bearcats in 2018-19, averaging 4.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game for a Cincinnati team that advanced to the WNIT quarterfinal. Coming out of Griffin High School in her native Georgia, Puckett was rated a three-star recruit by ESPN after a prolific high school career that saw her leave Griffin as its all-time leader in scoring (1,330) and rebounds (790).

Ole Miss proved difficult to damage from distance in 2019-20, holding opponents to five or fewer three-pointers in 21 of 30 games this season. The Rebels were particularly stout from beyond the arc in the last month of the season, stifling Alabama (3-of-20), Vanderbilt (3-of-8) and Florida (3-of-11) to a 9-of-39 clip (.231) in three straight from Feb. 2-13. The Rebel defense held Louisiana to a season-low 1-of-10 clip from the three-point line, the third time in the last two seasons that Ole Miss has held an opposing team to one three-point field goal.

McNeese State (0-1) rolls into town after a 90-45 loss to Louisiana Tech last Wednesday night. The Cowgirls were led on the floor by senior guard Callie Maddox with ten points. Maddox added two rebounds and an assist to her stats line.

Tonight’s game will be the eighth meeting all-time between the two programs. Ole Miss leads the series at 6-1.