Women’s Basketball Takes on Georgia Bulldogs

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

Ole Miss women’s basketball puts an eight-game winning streak on the line when they step on the court Thursday as they travel to the Peach State to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and can be streamed on SEC Network+.

“We’re excited about playing Georgia and Alabama this week,” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said in her press conference on Wednesday.

Ole Miss (15-2, 4-0 SEC) is coming off of a 57-38 victory over Texas A&M on Sunday. It marked the sixth time for the Rebels to hold its opponent under 50 points, surrendering a mere 17 points to the Aggies in the second half.

Coach McPhee-McCuin and her staff have looked at the SEC slate into pods of four. The Rebels opened the first pod 4-0.

“We put that behind us,” McPhee-McCuin said. “We had the day that we got it and the day after to celebrate that and enjoy that and talk about it. Now we have turned our attention to the next pod.”

Ole Miss was led by the trio of Snudda Collins, Marquesha Davis and Madison Scott each scored 11 points apiece. While their teammate Angel Baker had herself a day, dishing out a season-high eight assists and nabbing a career-high five steals.

Ole Miss’ defense comes into the matchup sixth in scoring defense 33.9 precent from the field. The coaching staff has been able to get the team to gel so quickly.

“I think Myah (Taylor) is the head of the snake from the defense end,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Myiah with her toughness and competiveness has been huge to go along with Angel (Baker who is the head of the snake.”

Georgia rolls into the game with a 13-5 record and a 2-2 start in conference. The Bulldogs are coming off of back-to-back wins against Kentucky and at Florida.

The Bulldogs are known for their strong defense, ranking third overall in the conference in rebounding defense at 31.11 per outing. UGA is forcing its opponents to turnover the ball as well, nabbing an average of 10.72 steals per game to rank second in the SEC.

Two Bulldogs are currently averaging double-digits points, including UCF transfer and the 2022 AAC Conference player of the year in Diamond Battles leading the team with 13.3 points per game.

“Georgia is also new as their coach (Katie Abrahamson-Henderson) did a genius job by bringing a lot of her players from her old school (UCF),” McPhee-McCuin said.

Thursday night will be the 57^th meeting between the two programs. Georgia holds the advantage at 38-18 in the series, dating back to the first meeting between the two schools in 1980. In recent years, Georgia has held court against Ole Miss by claiming the last six matchups, including the last six played in Stegeman Coliseum.

The last time Ole Miss walked out of Athens with a victory was a one point 66-65 victory in 2010.

In last season’s lone matchup in Oxford, Ole Miss was unable to overcome the deficit it found itself in during the first quarter, ultimately falling 62-52 at the SJB Pavilion.