Ole Miss fends off a fourth-quarter surge by Gonzaga to advance in NCAA Tournament

Friday was a walk in the park for the Ole Miss women’s basketball team as it handled Gonzaga with ease for most of its first round game of the NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis.

That was until the final 10 minutes got underway and things got interesting after the Rebels reserves were unable to maintain a healthy 31-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter. Ole Miss held on but it was a 81-66 victory that probably did not taste as good with the way it ended.

But the defense of the 5-seed Rebels lived up to its ‘Dictate and Disrupt’ moniker, stifling 12 Seed Gonzaga as the lead swelled to as much as 33 points at one point. The first of two boxes were checked as Ole Miss works to get back to next weekend’s Sweet 16, and beyond.

For the first time in over a month the Rebels were whole again with Sira Thienou back in the starting lineup. Thienou has been out since suffering a knee injury against Tennessee on February 17. The rest and time out did her good as Thienou’s presence, especially on defense, was noticeable with four blocks and three steals to go with her 12 points and and eight rebounds.

The Ole Miss defense created 21 Gonzaga turnovers, scoring 23 points off them, and had 14 total steals and nine blocked shots.

“I’m a happy camper, to the point where I was like I wanted to bottle her up. I didn’t want to play her anymore after that,” McCuin said of Thienou. “She just means a lot to us, and I think her sitting out and having a chance to watch the game has really helped her, and we’re going to need her, so grateful to have her back.”

Latasha Lattimore led the way with 15 points while Cotie McMahon scored 13 points and Denim DeShields scored 11 points to join Thienou as the four Rebels to finish in double figures.

Ole Miss will play the winner of 4 Seed Minnesota and 13 Seed Green Bay in the second round on Sunday. Tip off times will be announced later.