Everything Yolett McPhee-McCuin said after Ole Miss' season-ending loss to Minnesota

Head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin and No. 19 Ole Miss saw the season end in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament via a 65-63 loss to No. 18 Minnesota in Minneapolis on Sunday.

The Gophers Amaya Battle hit a near buzzer-beating shot for the win to send them to Sacramento and the Sweet 16.

As for the Rebels (24-11) and McCuin it is back to the drawing board after a first weekend exit for the second time in the last three years.

Below is everything head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said after the loss.

OPENING STATEMENT

McCuin: “I just thought this was an incredible environment. Shout out to the Minnesota fans that came out to support women’s basketball and I know they got a treat by watching two good teams.

Disappointed how we ended the game. I thought that there were opportunities from the beginning of the game to the end of the game where we could have taken control of our destiny. We did that coming out of halftime and if you want to know how home court advantage feels, I feel like their fans won them that game today. I’m not discrediting their play, with an awesome shot by the Battle kid at the end, but their fans won them that game. You couldn’t hear. Just an incredible environment.

As I close out this year and look forward to next year, the goal will be to host at home so that we can have that same type of opportunity. That’s what’s next for this program.”

THE CHALLENGE OF NOT HAVING COTIE MCMAHON ON THE COURT AT THE END OF THE GAME

McCuin: “I got to see how to answer that without getting in any trouble. I was in the locker room thinking about other star players on teams. I’ve just never seen them fouled out in a March Madness game. I just haven’t. Paige, Caitlin. I mean, I don’t want to call current ones because then someone will say I’m tampering or something like that. I just haven’t seen the best players get fouled out.

From my point of view, the last call was incorrect. We watched it 1,500 times. One of the things I do understand is that officials are human and environments create them to officiate in a particular type of way. I don’t think that’s why we lost the game. I just know that Cotie is leading scorer, newcomer of the year, all of the things, and she plays 20 minutes.

And it’s disappointing. These fans deserved more than that. The game deserves more than that, and I just think a officiating as a whole really needs to be looked at. I really do. I’m not just talking about this game. Something has to be done. It has to be better.”

ON DRAWING UP THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME

McCuin: “Well, it was a back screen for Tash and I told Sira to just throw it at the rim because Tash is super athletic and can out-jump anybody on their team, but I said if T is open, you can pass it to her because we’ve also seen her bang seven threes in one game. She hasn’t had a good tournament but we’ve seen her do it. She got the look and as a coach, that’s the look you want.

As a coach, I thought the last two possessions, two for us with Tash scoring on the play I drew up and Tianna getting the shot and the young lady making that shot, it was just — that’s out of a Disney movie. You’re at home court, three, two, one… and she just makes the shot. There’s nothing you can do. Sira’s hand was right there contesting that shot. If we could have it again, maybe I wouldn’t want her to catch it.

But we had been defending so well the whole night. It was a good look for T and she’s a sophomore and she won’t forget that.”

ON WHAT THE LOST DOES FOR FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PROGRAM

McCuin: “That’s a great question. You know, I saw — someone wrote up that Coach Yo is losing seven seniors so they’ll have to rebuild. We don’t rebuild at Ole Miss. We lost six last year and had the best start that we’ve ever had here at Ole Miss in my tenure, so we reload.

I think what’s next is I’m kind of tired of having to take down Goliath so early. What’s next is to be able to host. If Sira didn’t get hurt, we would be hosting this year. Those two games we lost at the end really hurt our chances.

Next year is to host, but not even be a four seed. Be a three seed. I have to figure out how to make sure our fans come out and support us. They had almost 11,000 today and I felt it. It was incredible. For someone that loves a game like I do, it doesn’t distract me at all. I get fuelled by it.

So it’s about reloading. The only way that happens is by the people that support the program from the chancellor to the AD and to the community for us to be able to do what we got to do because this is a different type of environment that we’re in. You got to be able to have the Jimmies and the Joes, Jessleys and the Jessicas. So hope through we can get two Coties and be able to build around that.

We’ve built a repetition. Doesn’t fracture us at all. This is a well-oiled machine. Just try to put us in a better position to make the run that we want to make moving forward.”

ON THE POSSESSION THAT ENDED WITH A SHOT CLOCK VIOLATION

McCuin: “Yeah, of course. I just said the crowd won the game. The crowd won the game. These are young people. I felt like Sira had a really good shot. She had willed us the whole time. When she didn’t take the shot I was kind of, like, stunned because I’m not a big time-out person unless I feel like we have to. Like I did the possession after that. I called it because I could tell we weren’t confident, but it was in the hands that I wanted it in. Cotie was out the game. It was Sira. She had made some big shots and that’s just an environment. That’s something she has to learn from. She’s a sophomore. She’ll be better.

One of the things I did talk to the team about, because I have seven seniors and they’re getting ready to go into the real world. I just talked about courage and having courage. I wouldn’t have this job if I lacked courage. Ole Miss didn’t come after me. I called a search firm and told them that I was the right person for the job.

If there’s anything I want them to learn, sometimes you have to step out and shoot your shot. I think moving forward, that’s something that Sira will never forget. Hopefully our team and the seniors that are leaving that are going out in the real world, when they have an opportunity as women, especially, that they just have the courage to go ahead and shoot their shot at whatever it is they want in life.”

ON IF THE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FROM CURRENT TRANSFERS HELP WHEN RECRUITING THIS PORTAL WINDOW

McCuin: “Yeah, that’s something that started way before these young ladies game from Shakira Austin, Kennedy Todd-Williams, Anger Baker, Marquesha Davis. I have tons of players that are in the league or playing professionally that were all transfers. It speaks for itself.

My friends have this little slogan, if you want to go pro, go with Coach Yo. We look at our institution and our program as a pro prep.

But when we talk about Ole Miss, I don’t care what the perception is, you have to come and see for yourself. Oxford is a place that loves on their student-athletes. All their students, really. They love on them. It’s a safe environment. It’s an environment where you’re allowed to grow and it’s one where you really get to feel a home away from home.

I think these young ladies continuing — that’s what I said to them in the locker room. Just thanks for taking a chance on me. Cotie could have gone — Cotie had so many schools that wanted her, Christeen leaving from UCLA. All these young ladies had options, okay? And they chose to come here and be part of what we’re doing here.

I’m forever grateful and that’s why this one stings. I really enjoy coaching this team. I wasn’t ready to stop. But, you know, as a coach you don’t really stop coaching them. My coaches are way older than me and I still call them coach to this day and I’m 43. Hopefully they will continue to be advocates and just by them showing up and doing what they did. They will always have a home here at Ole Miss with us.”

ON SIRA THIENOU’S ROLE ON THE TEAM NEXT SEASON

McCuin: “Yeah, we already had our meeting with Sira for next year. That is one of the things we talked about. She has to be — talking about two Coties, how about two Siras? She’s going to be that one. She knows that. She will be ready to step in that. She has blossomed so much in the little time. She’s only a sophomore. She’s way ahead of any of my sophomores that I’ve ever coached going into her junior campaign. This young lady was out for a month and came back and just played with so much heart and we really missed her.

Really excited about her having a great offseason and building her. That is the goal. The gold is to build around Sira so that we can continue to move on and even be better in the future.

Thanks, everybody. Really appreciate your love.”