Cotie McMahon's Historic Night Lifts Ole Miss WBB to 94-81 Win Over Tennessee

OXFORD, Miss. – Cotie McMahon’s historic outing propelled No. 17 Ole Miss women’s basketball to victory over No. 21/21 Tennessee, 94-81, Tuesday evening at the SJB Pavilion.

McMahon dropped a career high 39 points for the Rebels (21-6, 8-4 SEC), which is tied with Ole Miss legends Eugenia Conner and Peggie Gillom for the third-most points ever by a Rebel in a single game. McMahon’s point total trails only Gillom and Bianca Thomas for the most in program history.

Additionally, her 39 points are an SJB Pavilion record, which was previously set in 2019 by Crystal Allen when she scored 34. Two of Ole Miss’ five best individual scoring efforts in program history have now come against Tennessee, the best performance being Gillom’s 45 points against the Lady Vols in 1978. It also marked the most points by an individual in an SEC game this season.

With the win, Ole Miss has now won two of the past three meetings with Tennessee (16-8, 8-4 SEC). The Rebels shattered their previous scoring high against the Lady Vols, with 94 points serving as the greatest point total ever, besting the previous high by 11 points.

With her performance against the Lady Vols, McMahon became just the fifth Rebel all-time to reach the 2,000-point mark for their overall career.

She joined Ole Miss legends Peggie and Jennifer Gillom, Armintie Price and Angel Baker with her accomplishment. Her and Baker are the only Rebels to accomplish the feat after transferring to Ole Miss.

McMahon now has 16 games of at least 20 points this season. It's tied with Jennifer Gillom and Sheila Sullivan for the fifth most in a single season by any Rebel ever and is the most since Bianca Thomas had 19 such games in 2009-10.

Thomas’ mark ranks second in program history. In addition to her scoring, McMahon had a double-double with 10 rebounds and led the team in assists with five, making her the first Rebel in the past 25 seasons with at least 35 points and 10 rebounds in a game.

As a team, Ole Miss surpassed the 80-point plateau for the 14th time this season, tying Team 51 for the sixth most games of at least 80 points in a season in program history.

They tied Team 50’s total from last season, as well as the 1979-80 squad. Should the Rebels record one more game of at least 80 points, it would be tied for the third most in Ole Miss single season history.

Latasha Lattimore was no slouch against the Lady Vols, scoring 14 points with 12 rebounds. In doing so, she’s recorded four straight games with a double-double, the last Rebel to accomplish that streak was Shakira Austin during the 2020-21 season.

Of the five times McMahon has secured a double-double this season, another Rebel has as well (the others being Christeen Iwuala twice, Lattimore twice, and Sira Thienou).

Iwuala added 16 points and five rebounds to Ole Miss’ cause, and Tianna Thompson scored 12 points off the bench in support of the Rebel’s efforts.

McMahon required just one field goal to become the fifth Rebel to accumulate 2,000 career points, and she accomplished it less than three minutes into the game on a jumper from the elbow. Fueled by McMahon’s accomplishment and a ruckus crowd, the Rebels excelled defensively against the Lady Vols. Tennessee needed all 10 minutes to reach double-digit points, shooting only 4-for-17 in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, McMahon spent much of the quarter dropping assists to her teammates, finishing the quarter with three. She led Ole Miss on a 9-0 scoring run which lasted nearly three minutes, and in that span the Rebels made 4-of-5 of their field goals. With its productive offense and stout defense, Ole Miss entered the second quarter ahead 18-12.

By midway through the second quarter, McMahon had 10 points, and the Rebels were nearing a double-digit lead. Debreasha Powe gave Ole Miss that 10-point lead after a turnaround jumper off a feed from Thienou. The Lady Vols wouldn’t slow their attack, but the Rebels had answers for each offensive possession.

McMahon went coast-to-coast in two consecutive possessions, nailing a fadeaway jumper at the elbow and a fastbreak layup to keep the lead comfortable. McMahon dropped another dime to Lattimore for a last-second layup to extend Ole Miss’ lead to 44-33 at the conclusion of half No. 1.

McMahon was on a mission throughout the period as the leading scorer and rebounder among all players on the court, with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Her and Thienou had also combined for four assists each. Defensively, the Rebels forced one turnover for each assist Tennessee had. Additionally, none of the Lady Vols had reached double-digit scoring after 20 minutes of competition.

After a quick steal to start the third quarter, McMahon returned to work with a fastbreak jumper from the free throw line. After a string of penalties on Ole Miss, Lattimore got the crowd excited with a converted and-one attempt resulting in second-chance points. Thienou and Thompson began contributing from long range to continue to build Ole Miss’ lead.

Thompson kept contributing by driving to the bucket on her own and dropping a layup. Her bucket put the Rebels up by 21, but the Rebels weren’t finished there. McMahon added two jump shots in rapid successions, the second by way of a steal and dish from Powe.

Thompson added to her stat line by making another and-one bucket for Ole Miss to improve the lead to 25. After allowing six points from long distance, McMahon once again dazzled with a layup with five seconds on the clock to give Ole Miss a 75-53 lead.

With Ole Miss in a comfortable spot with 10 minutes remaining, Tennessee began to slowly claw back with 3-pointers.

The Rebels allowed the Lady Vols to make four shots from long distance, but responded with quick buckets each time. In the final four minutes of play, each Tennessee bucket was answered or surpassed by Ole Miss, keeping the score ideal. McMahon drained a 3-pointer to reach 35 points for the night. She proceeded to make four additional free throws to reach her history-making point total and to solidify the final score of 94-81.

After a quick turnaround, Ole Miss will face No. 6/7 LSU at the SJB Pavilion in Oxford on Feb. 19. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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