The Recap: Ole Miss Women's Basketball Cruises to 80-57 Win Over Arkansas Razorbacks

OXFORD, Miss. – For the sixth time in a row, No. 14/16 Ole Miss women’s basketball bested Arkansas, 80-57, for its 20th win of the season Thursday night at the SJB Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi.

Ole Miss (20-5, 7-3 SEC) and head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin have reached the 20-overall win plateau for a fifth consecutive season and the 23rd time in program history. It marks the first time in the 21st century that Ole Miss has reached at least 20 wins in five straight seasons and first since Van Chancellor led 11 consecutive teams to that mark from 1981-92.

Following the effects of Winter Storm Fern, the Rebels rekindled the magic they’ve built on home court. The Rebels remained undefeated on Craddock Court, at 12-0, this season and scored 80 points for the 13th time this year.

That serves as the eighth most by any Ole Miss squad in its 51-year history. Last year’s squad hit 14 games of 80-plus points, but before then, no more than 15 games have been scored above 80 points since 2006-07.

With its offensive dominance, Ole Miss also shut down Arkansas’ (11-15, 0-11 SEC) scoring efforts nearly completely. The Razorbacks had their third-worst offensive output against SEC opponents this season and committed 18 fouls.

For the fifth game in a row, and 15th time this season, Cotie McMahon scored at least 20 points in a game, finishing with 21 against the Razorbacks. She’s tied Armintie Price’ 2006-07 season for the seventh-most 20-point games in a single season by a Rebel.

With her performance, she’s pulled within 20 points of 2,000 points in her overall career, a mark achieved by only four Rebels previously and not since Angel Baker did so in 2022-23.

Latasha Lattimore and Sira Thienou once again paced Ole Miss defensively, both excelling in their respective strengths. Lattimore had five blocks, her ninth game this season with at least that many and her third with at least five.

She’s the first Rebel since the 2021-22 season to have at least three blocks in a game in a single season. She surpassed the 50-block mark for the year as well, marking two of the last three seasons Ole Miss has had at least one player reach that defensive standard.

Near the perimeter and deep in the paint, Thienou disrupted Arkansas’ offense all game, tallying four steals. The sophomore upped her team-high mark in steals to 44 in the overall season, sitting comfortably over 120 for her career. The senior-sophomore duo combined for seven total steals for the game.

Lattimore also added 17 points and 11 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. Thienou had 11 points and eight rebounds on top of her steals. Denim DeShields had a season-high 12 points, all from long distance. Her four threes tied her career single game best.

Ole Miss Basketball. — Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Women's Basketball.

Lattimore kicked off the scoring for Ole Miss, draining a wide-open three off a dish from McMahon. Christeen Iwuala and Lattimore would contribute a layup apiece to add to the score, the former of which came at the end of the shot clock.

A pair of threes followed for the Rebels, including one from Debreasha Powe, who made personal history by scoring the 1,000th point of her overall career. The Rebels hot start saw the Rebel score 19 points quickly. After the exciting quarter, DeShields closed it for the Rebels by knocking in Ole Miss’ fourth 3-pointer of the period to give it a 26-16 lead.

The second quarter began with a series of fast break opportunities for both teams. Neither team allowed the other to pause, but McMahon managed an early layup which DeShields complemented with another 3-pointer. With the quick start, the defense showed up for both sides and the scoring steadily decreased in frequency.

McMahon then ignited for the Rebels, causing fouls, making free throws, and going coast-to-coast for layups to improve the Rebel lead to 15 points. One final bucket from Arkansas meant Ole Miss had a 40-27 lead going into the second half.

McMahon kickstarted the second half with five points for the Rebels, increasing the lead to 20. In that time, Ole Miss held Arkansas scoreless for almost the first five minutes of the third quarter.

Stout defensive from the Rebels led to another pair of triples from DeShields, her third and fourth of the game to set her season best. Arkansas scored six unanswered to close the half but still found itself behind 55-40 with 10 minutes to play.

The fourth quarter belonged to Lattimore, who scored 10 points on her own. She reclaimed the six unanswered points Arkansas had to conclude the third quarter in the name of Ole Miss. McMahon added a fastbreak jumper in the paint, which Lattimore scored her eighth point of the quarter soon afterward.

By that point, Ole Miss had built a 22-point lead which would prove to be insurmountable for Arkansas. Thienou and Iwuala sparked the final stretch by both converting an and-one, and Desrae Kyles made the final field goal to solidify the final score of 80-57.

Ole Miss is back on the road to face Kentucky in Lexington. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on SECN.

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