Yolett McPhee-McCuin, or Coach Yo, is having another transformational season with the Ole Miss Rebels. In what is a stacked Southeastern Conference in the NCAAW, the Rebels are not only managing to stay afloat but sending warning shots after their latest performances against top seeds. However, the star of the night, Cotie McMahon, sent an important message from the press conference and explained why this win was significant.

“Me and Coach Yo have a lot of conversations, but specifically just letting the game come to me and kind of making the right reads is what I struggled with in the Texas game. We needed this win, and so I had to adjust. And so I just came out, made the right read,” McMahon said, speaking to the press after the win over Texas.

“She told me that the shot’s going to be there, so look to shoot it, be confident, and then if it’s not there, just make the right reads out of that,” she further added.

Their latest result, a 74-69 win over 5th-seeded Oklahoma, comes on the heels of a hard-fought, narrow defeat to the 2nd-seeded Texas Longhorns, the game in which even McMahon referred. The Ole Miss Rebels are now 2-1 in conference play, 15-3 overall, and senior forward Cotie McMahon displayed the importance of grinding out such wins.

McMahon, one of the many names on the mid-season top 25 Wooden Award list, did struggle unconventionally against the Texas Longhorns. She failed to get many clean look-ins, which reflected in her poor shooting, converting just 7 out of her 16 attempts. The adjustments McMahon talks about above seem to have worked as she was much better against Oklahoma, scoring with 8 of her 14 attempts on the night to lead the Ole Miss Rebels to an upset win over the top 5 seed.

Coach Yo is known to be a tough coach and helps players push past their breaking points to develop resilience, something McMahon alluded to in the post-game conference. The 21-year-old added that recent practices were meant to prepare the team to face tough situations and be able to grind through the results. Also, Cotie McMahon is having a brilliant season thus far.

Under the tutelage of Coach Yo, who is known for her ability to develop players, the senior forward has shown an improvement in almost every metric a basketball player can be judged upon. McMahon will be looking to add to the list of Ole Miss Rebels players being selected in the WNBA Draft. All eyes will firmly be on Cotie McMahon and the Ole Miss Rebels after their win over Oklahoma.

Cotie McMahon Can Lead the Ole Miss Rebels to Another NCAAW Division 1 Appearance

The Ole Miss Rebels have appeared in the NCAAW Division 1 tournament for four consecutive years under Coach Yo. While two of their last 3 appearances resulted in a run to the Sweet Sixteen, the expectation from the current season wasn’t nearly as lofty.

However, their performances have defied expectations and predictions so far. While it is only halfway through the season, Cotie McMahon’s numbers serve as a frightening reminder of just how much a single individual can lift the whole team. McMahon has always been appreciative of Coach Yo and her methods. While she has admitted that “Coach Yo is just different”, McMahon seems to be cut from the same cloth.

The 21-year-old’s continuous improvement of her game in the past two seasons is also echoed by the statistics and the team’s overall results. In the 2023-24 season with OSU, she averaged 14.4 points per game, only to improve it to 16.5 per game the following year. This season, however, that number has taken a huge jump to 19.1 points a game. Her hunger to improve and ability to adapt quickly are evident if anyone compares the tape of the Texas loss and the Oklahoma win.

The Southeastern Conference is easily one of the most stacked conferences in the NCAAW, featuring as many as 8 seeded teams. The Ole Miss Rebels currently sit at an overall record of 15-3, which is good enough to lift them above powerhouses like the LSU Tigers, the Kentucky Wildcats, and the Oklahoma Sooners in the conference standings.

With a few comparably comfortable games up ahead, the Ole Miss Rebels can set themselves up for an exciting season, with their last five matches of the regular season featuring teams like South Carolina, LSU, and Kentucky. And there is little doubt that Cotie McMahon will be the torchbearer if the Coach Yo-led Rebels are going to enter the NCAAW Division 1 tournament and this time, perhaps set a tryst with history.

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