No. 19 Ole Miss must get past a familiar foe in Gonzaga as NCAA Tournament starts

Ole Miss is in its fifth straight NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and Yolett McPhee-McCuin still gets butterflies in her stomach on Selection Sunday.

What is becoming old hat for the program still feels like the first time for the eighth-year Rebels head coach who takes her team to Minneapolis to open up the tournament this weekend.

To reach a third Sweet 16 appearance in the four years means 5 Seed Ole Miss (23-11) has to get past 12 Seed Gonzaga (24-9) in a first round meeting on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT inside Williams Arena. This will be a rematch from three years ago when the Rebels and Bulldogs met in Palo Alto, California for a first round meeting.

Ole Miss won that one by 23 points on its way to its first Sweet 16 appearance in 16 years, at the time. But Friday’s game presents a new matchup against a familiar foe.

“Yeah, we’re ready to play somebody, anybody,” McCuin said on Thursday. “I woke up again this morning incredibly just pumped up, like oh, God, I want to play someone. I’m sick of watching film. I was kind of bummed when I saw we were matching up with the Zags because I’m familiar with them, and I think what I love about March Madness is you get to play someone you haven’t played before. It just gives, like, an excitement. But they are a new team, and they’re different. I just am very familiar with Gonzaga and Minnesota because of the coaches. Green Bay, not so much.”

Host team and 4 Seed Minnesota (22-8) takes on 13 Seed Green Bay (25-8) at 5 p.m. CT on Friday.

This Ole Miss team, dubbed by McCuin as ‘Team 51’ is a mixture of a new roster that has plenty of NCAA Tournament experience.

Just with different teams before coming here.

Christeen Iwuala is one Rebel that has been part of the last year’s NCAA Tournament team after transferring from UCLA. There is the chance Iwuala could face her former team for a second straight year in the Sweet 16 if the Rebels advance out of Minneapolis and the Bruins take care of business in Los Angeles this weekend.

That meeting would take place in Sacremento next weekend.

“I feel like just with the new group of people, it’s been a really different role for me to just be able to show them kind of like what to do, how to do it and stuff,” Iwuala said on Thursday. “So just my role in general has been different, and then that feeling has just allowed me to come closer to everybody else. I feel like everybody on this team is just so much — they enjoy being around each other so much.”

This Ole Miss roster will also be whole again as sophomore guard Sira Thienou is slated to make her return after being out since playing last on February 17 due to a knee injury.

The Rebels and Bulldogs first round game will air on ESPN2.