WACO, Texas – Making its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament, fifth-seeded Ole Miss women's basketball will begin its 2025 journey against 12th-seeded Ball State in the Forster Pavilion on Friday, March 21. The Rebels search to win its opening game of the tournament for the third year in a row and the 14th time in program history, taking on the Cardinals on ESPNU at 5:00 p.m. CT.
TEAM FACTS
No. 25/25 Ole Miss Rebels (20-10, 10-6 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 7th Season at Ole Miss (123-94) • 12th Season in Career (217-157)
Ball State Cardinals (27-7, 16-2 MAC)
Head Coach: Brady Sallee • 13th Season at Ball State (264-154) • 21st Season in Career (400-264)
ON THE AIR
Television: ESPNU
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.
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.
BEST IN THE 'SIP
Following the SEC Tournament, Madison Scott was awarded the 2025 Gillom Trophy, an honor that recognizes the most outstanding women's basketball player in Mississippi. The Gillom Trophy returns to Oxford for the fourth time in five years, with Scott earning the honor for the first time in her career.
The Gillom Trophy has been presented annually since 2008 to the most outstanding women's basketball player in the state, in honor of Ole Miss All-American Peggie Gillom-Granderson. Scott joined Mississippi State's Jerkaila Jordan and Jackson State's Taleah Dilworth as the three finalists.
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. BALL STATE
Round one of the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament will feature a never-before-seen matchup between Ole Miss and Ball State. Friday's meeting will be the first ever between the two squads. This is the third time this season that Ole Miss has faced an opponent for the first time in its 50-year history, the others being against USC at the Aflac Oui-Play and Boston College at the Continental Tire Baha Mar Championship.
Ball State is a member of the MAC conference and went 27-7 under head coach Brady Sallee this season, as he won MAC Coach of the Year honors.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Brady Sallee is in his 13th season leading Ball State. During his tenure, he's collected over 250 wins to become the winningest coach in Ball State women's basketball history.
He guided the Cardinals to the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament, where they would go on to win their second ever conference title over No. 2 Toledo, 65-58. By winning, Ball State earned its second ever trip to the national tournament. The last time Ball State went dancing was in 2009 as the No. 12 seed, where it upset No. 5 Tennessee in the first round.
As showcased by their domination in the MAC Tournament, the Cardinals are top three in the conference in 17 statistical rankings. Ball State has the best defense in the conference, leading the MAC in blocks and defensive field goal percentage. It has the third-best scoring defense and the second-most defensive rebounds per game, which it ranks top 50 in nationally.
The Cardinals are adept at turning good defense into good offense, holding a 12.9 scoring margin. Ball State scores 72.7 points per game on 45.2 percent shooting from the field.
Four players average double-digit points for the Cardinals, with another player (Elise Stuck) averaging just below that mark with a 9.9 average. Alex Richard and Ally Becki and the main scoring contributors, averaging 16.5 and 13.9 points per game, respectively. Richard, a 6-foot-1 senior forward has spent the last three seasons at Ball State, where she's collected nearly 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. She scored a career-high 33 points against Toledo in February, and another 28 points against the Rockets in the MAC Championship Match.
The MAC Player of the Year in Becki is a four-year starter for the Cardinals and has the sixth-most points in Ball State women's basketball history with 1665 entering Friday's game. Along with scoring, Becki is the team's top assist distributor and stealer, pacing the MAC with 6.3 assists per game while averaging 2.18 steals. Her 214 assists this season is third in the nation, behind Katie Dinnebier of Drake and Serena Sundell of Kansas State. Becki secured a triple double against Memphis on Nov. 13, 2024, with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
REBELS AGAINST THE MAC
The Rebels hold a 4-3 record against MAC opponents. Ole Miss last faced a MAC opponent on Nov. 18, 2018, when it faced Western Michigan in Oxford. The Rebels won, 69-66, behind Crystal Allen's 19 points and La'Karis Salter's double-double off the bench.
The win over Western Michigan is head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin's only game against a MAC opponent during her tenure in Oxford.
