The Ole Miss women’s basketball team will make their fifth straight NCAA Basketball Tournament appearance when they play Gonzaga in the first round at 2 p.m. Friday in Minneapolis.
Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin doesn’t take that for granted.
“It’s hard, y’all,” McPhee-McCuin said after the pairing was announced. “Not everybody gets to dance in March.”
Ole Miss is the fifth seed in the NCAA West Regional. Gonzaga is the 12-seed. The Gonzaga-Ole Miss winner will play the winner of 4-seed Minnesota, the host team, and 13-seed Green Bay in Sunday’s second round. The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to the Regional finals at Sacramento next week.
Ole Miss has advanced to the Sweet 16 in two of the past three years.
“Our goal is to get past the Sweet 16,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Our schedule has prepared us to play anyone, whenever and wherever. This is an exciting time.”
Hard to believe that it was just six years ago that Ole Miss, in McPhee-McCuin’s second season in Oxford, went winless (0-14) In the Southeastern Conference and and finished 7-23 overall. The Rebels were 15-12 the next year, reaching the NIT finals, and have been in the NCAA Tournament ever since. Ole Miss has won 127 games over the last five seasons.
The current Rebs will take a 23-11 record into the tournament, having defeated three top-five teams during the course of the season. Ole Miss beat fifth-ranked Oklahoma 74-69 on the road Jan. 8, defeated fifth-ranked Vanderbilt 83-75 at Birmingham Jan. 30, and beat fifth-ranked Vandy again in the SEC Tournament 89-78 on March 6. This marks the first time Ole Miss has beaten three top-five teams in a single season.
The Rebels also own victories over No. 18 Notre Dame and No. 21 Tennessee. Perhaps just as impressively, they extended then-undefeated and second-ranked Texas to the final buzzer in a 67-64 defeat at Austin. Clearly, Ole Miss has shown it can compete with the nation’s best teams.
But Gonzaga (24-9) will come into the tournament playing its best basketball, having defeated Oregon State 76-66 for the West Coast Conference championship on March 10. Gonzaga has won five of its last six and 10 of its last 12. The only loss since Feb. 14 came in overtime, 92-91, at Portland.
Gonzaga and Ole Miss have played in the NCAA Tournament once before in 2023, when the Rebels won a first-round game 71-58 at Stanford.
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Mississippi’s bench reacts after a score by forward Christeen Iwuala during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Vanderbilt, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Birmingham, Ala. Credit: AP Photo/Vasha Hunt -
Mississippi guard Sira Thienou (0) blocks a shot by Vanderbilt guard Aubrey Galvan (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Birmingham, Ala. Credit: AP Photo/Vasha Hunt -
Mississippi guard Tianna Thompson passes the ball against South Carolina during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Columbia, S.C., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Nell Redmond -
Mississippi center J’adore Young shoots a jump shot against South Carolina during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Columbia, S.C., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Nell Redmond -
Mississippi guard Kaitlin Peterson, left, hugs Mississippi forward Christeen Iwuala (12) as Iwuala is interviewed by ESPN’s Emily Grace McWhorter, right, after an upset win over Vanderbilt at an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Birmingham, Ala. Credit: AP Photo/Vasha Hunt -
Mississippi head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson -
Mississippi forward Cotie McMahon shoots over Texas guard Jordan Lee during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson -
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes drives to the basket past Mississippi guard Kaitlin Peterson during second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson -
Mississippi guard Denim DeShields drives to the basket past Texas guard Rori Harmon during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson -
Texas forward Breya Cunningham passes around Mississippi forward Christeen Iwuala during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson -
Mississippi center Desrae Kyles (7) pulls in an offensive rebound against South Carolina forward Alicia Tournebize, front right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Columbia, S.C., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Nell Redmond -
Mississippi guard Lauren Jacobs drives to the basket against South Carolina during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Columbia, S.C., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Nell Redmond
Minnesota (22-8) will have a decided home floor advantage at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, where the 18th ranked Golden Gophers won 13 of 16 home games during the regular season.
Ole Miss senior Cotie McMahon leads the Rebels with a 19.9 points per game scoring average and was recently named a second team Sporting News All American. She will be no stranger to Williams Arena, where she played as a three-year starter and standout at Ohio State before transferring to Ole Miss.
McMahon is one of eight transfers who have helped Ole Miss this season after the Rebels suffered heavy graduation losses from last season’s Sweet 16 team.
