WACO, Texas – With a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, fifth-seeded Ole Miss women's basketball will take on the host school in fourth-seeded Baylor for the fourth ever meeting between the two teams in the Second Round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Tip from Foster Pavilion is set for Sunday, March 23 at 3:00 p.m. CT, airing on ESPN.
TEAM FACTS
No. 25/25 Ole Miss Rebels (21-10, 10-6 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 7th Season at Ole Miss (124-94) • 12th Season in Career (218-157)
No. 14/15 Baylor Bears (28-7, 15-3 Big 12)
Head Coach: Nicki Collen • 4th Season at Baylor (102-35) • 4th Season in Career (102-35)
ON THE AIR
Television: ESPN
Play-by-Play: Krista Blunk
Color: Mary Murphy
OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Graham Doty
REBELS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Appearing in its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, Ole Miss reaches the big dance for the fourth straight season for the first time since 1989 through 1992.
The Rebels have made it past the first weekend of the tournament in over half of their appearances, making 11 Sweet Sixteens before moving on to five Elite Eights.
The trek to Waco is Ole Miss' second NCAA Tournament visit to Baylor, playing against South Dakota in the 2022 First Round.
AS A NO. 5 SEED
The Rebels are seeded at No. 5 for the third time in school history and the first time since 1994. As a five, Ole Miss is 3-2 overall and advanced to the Sweet 16 during the 1989-90 season as a five seed.
TOURNEY TEAM
In her seven years at the helm, head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin has taken the program to new heights, as Ole Miss has found itself among the best of the best in the conference. Including the two newest additions to the league, Ole Miss is one of only six teams in the SEC that has advanced to the NCAA Tournament each of the last four years, along with good company in LSU, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
MOVIN' ON
Following a dominant 83-65 victory over Ball State in the First Round, Ole Miss moves on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season under Coach Yo. The Rebels are searching for their second Sweet 16 appearance in three years.
LAST TIME OUT
Kennedy Todd-Williams and Star Jacobs each picked up a double-double for fifth-seeded Ole Miss women's basketball, as it bested the No. 12 seeded Ball State, 83-65, in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Foster Pavilion, on Friday.
The Rebels comfortably handled the Cardinals, leading for over 34 minutes of the game. Ole Miss retaliated from Ball State's quick start to claim the upper hand in round one of the tournament. Head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin improved her record in the national tournament to 4-3 at the helm of Ole Miss.
DANGEROUS DUO
Against Ball State, Kennedy Todd-Williams and Starr Jacobs became the first Rebel duo to each record a double-double in a game since Feb. 18, 2024, when Rita Igbokwe and Todd-Williams each had one against Mississippi State. For Todd-Williams, it marks her first double-double of the season, second as a Rebel and fifth of her overall career. Jacobs earned her fourth of the season and 30th overall.
The pair had 11 rebounds each, a season high for Todd-Williams, pacing the team. Six of Todd-Williams' came from the offensive side. She also added 14 points to the Rebel cause while Jacobs scored a team-high 18 points on an efficient 6-of-7 shooting night.
NCAA TOURNAMENT RECORDS
Ole Miss' 18-point victory over Ball State is the fifth-widest in a NCAA Tournament game in program history, while the 83 points is the sixth-most.
Ole Miss' 53 rebounds is the most by a Rebel squad in the national tournament. Defensively, the Rebels had five blocks, good for the fifth most in the NCAA tournament by a Rebel team in program history.
TWENTY TIMES AS NICE
Ole Miss reached the 20-win plateau for a fourth consecutive season. This is the first time in the 21st century that Ole Miss has reached at least 20 wins in four straight seasons and first since Van Chancellor led 11 consecutive teams to that mark from 1981-92. Additionally, the Rebels have now hit the mark for the fourth straight season and for the 22nd time in program history.
ALL-SEC REBELS
As announced by the conference following the regular season concluding, Madison Scott has been named to the All-SEC Second Team and Sira Thienou to the All-Freshman Team.
Scott's honor marks the 20th instance in program history that a Rebel has earned second team accolades and is the second time she has earned the award of its kind in her career, also securing a spot during the 2022-23 season. Overall, it marks the graduate student's seventh conference honor in her five-year tenure at Ole Miss, as Scott has been named to the All-SEC First Team, the All-Defensive team twice, the All-Freshman team and was honored as the Freshman of the Year during the 2020-21 season.
Thienou is the first Rebel since Scott to garner All-Freshmen honors and the 14th freshman in Ole Miss' history to earn the recognition.
OLE MISS VS. BAYLOR
Ole Miss will suit up against Baylor for the first time since 2014, and only the fourth time ever in its series history. The Bears hold a 2-1 series advantage over the Rebels, having one both of the last two outings.
The Rebels' first and only victory against the Bears came in 1995 in the series opener. Ole Miss claimed a 72-66 victory at the Lady Eagle Classic Tournament in Hattiesburg, Miss., which the Rebels would ultimately claim champ status at.
Baylor is a member of the Big 12 Conference and is 28-7 overall entering this matchup.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
Head coach Nicki Collen leads Baylor in her fourth season in Waco. Prior to arriving at Baylor, Collen was the head coach of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream, where she earned the association's Coach of the Year honors in 2018. She's led Baylor to the NCAA Tournament in each of her four years with the program and has posted a 102-35 record in that span.
Collen guided the Bears to this season's Big 12 Tournament Championship game, where the Bears fell short, 64-59, to TCU.
Baylor has a potent offense which boasts five players averaging double figures. Due to that, the Bears have a top 25 scoring offense and a top 15 scoring margin. Aaronette Vonleh heads the scoring charge for the Bears, averaging 14.9 points per game, primarily in the paint. She also is a capable rebounder at 6-foot-3, hauling in 5.8 per game.
Baylor's true rebounding threat is Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who brings in a monstrous 10.2 boards per game. She's second in scoring for the Bears and has a team-leading 11 double-doubles entering the Sunday's contest. Her efforts have put Baylor in the top spot in the Big 12 in terms of offensive and total rebounds per game.
The Bears are one of the top teams in the nation regarding spreading the wealth. Baylor's 18.4 assists per game is the ninth-best in the country, spearheaded by the backcourt duo of Sarah Andrews and Jada Walker. The pair each have at least 175 assists this season while holding at least a 2.30 assist/turnover ratio. The guards are both scoring threats as well, with Walker scoring 11.1 and Andrews scoring 10.6 points per game, respectively.
Andrews is also Baylor's primary deep shooting threat, having made 79 3-pointers this season. She's shooting 36.9 percent from beyond the arc and makes at least two per game on average.
REBELS AGAINST THE BIG 12
The Rebels hold a 25-11 record against current members of the Big 12. When including Texas and Oklahoma's time in the Big 12, Ole Miss still holds a 28-19 advantage. The last time Ole Miss faced a current member of the conference was on Dec. 5, 2021, when it came away with a 76-63 win over Cincinnati.
Head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin is 3-2 against current members of the Big 12, and has won the last three outings against.
