Ole Miss Lady Rebels shock the world with upset over Stanford

Prior to this year, the Ole Miss women’s basketball program hadn’t reached the Sweet 16 since 2007.

Meanwhile, Stanford hadn’t not reached the Sweet 16 since, well, 2007. Of course, that’s why they call it March Madness.

Last night, the Rebels had the Cardinal on the ropes from start to finish, never trailing once, and leading by as many as 13 points in the third quarter.

As good teams typically do, Stanford almost came all the way back in the fourth, tying the game at 49-all before the Ole Miss defense took over, forcing multiple turnovers in the waning moments to put the game on ice en route to the 54-49 bracket-busting triumph.

Those 49 points are the second fewest Stanford has scored all season and a whopping 27 points below its season average.

For Ole Miss, validation that the same team that took top-ranked South Carolina to overtime earlier this year is for real. Guard Angel Baker said, “To start off, just walking in, knowing who we are, we’ve been battle tested all year. We’ve fallen short, and it was finally our time to step into that moment and come out on top.”

Head Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said, “I tell people, I always use basketball analogies, and I say for my life, y’all, I never get a wide-open lay-up. I always have to do a pro hop or a Euro step to score in life. I told my team, I just love them so much. I don’t want to stop having this feeling, so who knows, maybe we end up in Dallas. But at least right now we know we punched our ticket to the Sweet 16.”

Forward Madison Scott said, “We’ve come a long way, and I’m just so happy. That’s all I can say. I’m just so happy, and again, I keep saying it because I believe it. We all believe it. We’re not done.”

8-seed Ole Miss will take on 5-seed Louisville in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Seattle.

The Rebels beat Gonzaga in the first round.