It’s been a rough ride for Bahamian Head Coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Yolett ‘Coach Yo’ McPhee-McCuin, Bahamian senior guard Valerie Nesbitt and the Ole Miss Lady Rebels in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) so far as they dropped their third straight game and four out of five in conference play.
The Lady Rebels fell to the Georgia Bulldogs, 73-57, on the road at the Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia, yesterday. McPhee-McCuin and her squad won six straight to open the season, but started to struggle a bit as soon as conference play got underway. Still, it has been a progressive season for the Lady Rebels. They won a conference game this year after going winless in conference play a year ago, and are just one win short of last year’s total with 10 regular season games to go. Additionally, up until yesterday, they were competitive in each of their conference games this year.
The Lady Rebels’ lone conference win for the season came over the Auburn Tigers on January 7, snapping almost a two-year, 23-game regular season winless streak in the SEC. It was also their first wire-to-wire SEC win since topping Florida on January 20, 2019.
On Sunday, the Lady Rebels (7-4, 1-4 SEC) were defeated early by the Lady Bulldogs (12-1, 4-1 SEC), falling behind by double digits early in the second quarter, and they never recovered. They trailed 15-8 at the end of one, 36-23 at the half and got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Coming off a scoreless outing in an 86-77 loss for the Lady Rebels against the Missouri Tigers on Thursday, Bahamian point guard Nesbitt struck for a dozen this time. She was the leading scorer for the Lady Rebels off the bench. Junior forward Shakira Austin, the Lady Rebels’ leading scorer this season, had 13 to lead the charge for them yesterday. Nesbitt added 12, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 25 minutes of play. Redshirt sophomore guard Donetta Johnson was the only other player in double figures for them with 10.
Redshirt senior center Jenna Staiti led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 points yesterday and added five rebounds and four blocks. Senior guard Gabby Connally contributed 13 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Freshman guard Sarah Barker came off the bench to score 11.
After the Lady Bulldogs went ahead 4-2 on a layup from Staiti early in the first quarter, they never looked back. They led by as much as eight in the opening quarter, before settling for a 15-7 advantage after one. The Lady Bulldogs soon
increased that lead to double digits in the second quarter and the rout was on.
For the game, the Lady Bulldogs shot 53.7 percent from the floor (29-for-54) while the Lady Rebels finished the game at 41.8 percent (23-for-55). They were just 3-for-11 from downtown while the Lady Bulldogs connected on five of their seven shots from three-point land. The Lady Bulldogs also
out-rebounded the Lady Rebels, 33-27, dished out 16 assists and had eight blocks compared to just nine assists and two blocked shots for the Lady Rebels.
The Lady Bulldogs led by as much as 24 points in the third quarter before coasting to the easy win.
McPhee-McCuin, Nesbitt and the Lady Rebels will return to their home court at the Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi, to face the Florida Gators on Sunday. That game will get underway at 3 p.m.
Battling back from a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, the Lady Rebels have endured a season in which they had games postponed and canceled, and played short-handed with limited players. Their game against the Gators on Sunday will be their fourth home conference game of the season.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/coach-yo-nesbitt-and-rebels-fall-to-the-lady-bulldogs/
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