Ole Miss women’s basketball loses heart-breaker to Minnesota on last-second shot
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Ole Miss women’s basketball has experienced a renaissance under eighth-year head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. In her first season, the Rebels went 9-22 overall and 3-13 in the SEC, then went winless in conference play the next season.
Fast forward to 2026. Ole Miss has now gone to five straight NCAA Tournaments, including Sweet 16s in 2023 and 2025. Its appearance in 2022 was the program’s first since 2007. On Sunday, it faced fourth-seeded Minnesota in search of a second straight regional semifinal appearance and third in the past four seasons.
But despite taking a 54-46 lead into the fourth quarter, the Rebels saw the host Golden Gophers chip away before tying it at 61 with 1:17 to go. It remained that way until 18 seconds remaining, as Minnesota’s Sophie Hart and Ole Miss’s Latasha Lattimore traded buckets to make it 63-all with three seconds to go.
After a Golden Gophers timeout, Amaya Battle played the hero to send Minnesota to its first Sweet 16 since 2005.
It’s a heartbreaking end to the season for Ole Miss, whose season comes to an end at 24-12. Still, the work McPhee-McCuin has put in over the past several years to get the Rebels in this position can’t be overlooked. They’ve won at least 22 games over the past five seasons.
Sira Thienou led all scorers with 18. Cotie McMahon, the Rebels’ leading scorer and the SEC Newcomer of the Year, added 15 points.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
