Coach Yo says this Cotie McMahon stat key for Ole Miss beating Vanderbilt again – The Clarion-Ledger

GREENVILLE, SC —  Ole Miss women’s basketball snapped a four-game losing streak with a 73-57 win over Auburn in the second round of the SEC Tournament on March 5.
But coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said going into the game, she paid no attention to the losses.
“I hadn’t thought about it,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I don’t even remember who we lost to. This is a new season … That’s my mindset.”
That same mentality applies going forward as the No. 7 seed Rebels (22-10) move on to play No. 2 seed Vanderbilt (27-3) on March 6  (5 p.m. CT, SEC Network). They picked up the 83-75 win on Jan. 30 but to succeed once again against one of the nation’s best teams, Ole Miss‘ focus will have to be internal.
“For us we have to really just be ourselves,” McPhee-McCuin said.
Vanderbilt is led by sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes, the nation’s leading scorer who averaged 27.1 points during the regular season.
Ole Miss is fueled by Cotie McMahon, the senior transfer from Ohio State who averages 19.8, tied for 21st in the nation with South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards. The two are tied for second in the SEC, with Blakes No. 1.
Blakes had 29 points on 10-of-24 from the floor in the loss, McMahon finished with 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
Ole Miss is looking to host as a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994, and Vanderbilt is battling for the fourth No. 1 seed with Texas. Both have to make deep runs in the SEC Tournament to accomplish those goals.
McMahon scored 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, had six assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes against Auburn.
“Cotie, I loved the type of game she had tonight,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Thirteen points, six assists, that means people are making the shots when she passes it to them, and she’s being intentional about creating for others.”
Freshman point guard Aubrey Galvan helps Blakes on offense, averaging 12.9 points and she had 18 in the loss to Ole Miss but the Commodores got zero points from their bench. The Rebels scored 16 points off the bench and had three scorers in double figures besides McMahon.
The Auburn game allowed McMahon to distribute. Christeen Iwuala had a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds, the same amount she scored against Vanderbilt in January.
“I like us to be in the 20s from assists, but we were at 16, I was really happy about that because Cotie has established herself just like how Mikayla Blakes has, and so there’s going to be a lot of attention on her,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I just loved how she just trusts her teammates, and it was almost seamless.”
Blakes is shooting 46.6% from the floor, eighth in the SEC with McMahon shooting 45.2% (12th). Blakes makes 6.3 two-pointers a game and McMahon averaging 6.1 made two-pointers.
“She was under control and intentional about everything she did,” McPhee-McCuin said of McMahon. “She’ll come out with more fire I’m sure, but if she does that, we’ll be in good shape, because this whole time that we’ve been going through our games, our team has just been developing confidence and learning about themselves, and I think that’s how you beat a team like Vanderbilt.”

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