The Ole Miss women’s basketball team’s postseason run ended on Monday with a 71-56 loss to Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
After taking down No. 10 seed Marquette in the opening round on Saturday, the No. 7 seed Rebels (24-9, 12-4 SEC) were unable to overcome the No. 2 seed Fighting Irish (28-6, 13-5 ACC) in South Bend, Ind.
Ole Miss opened the game on the wrong end of a scoring run and was unable to piece things back together to mount a comeback against a Notre Dame team that shot 50 percent from the field. After scoring on the opening possession, the Rebels struggled to make it past the Irish’s defense and found themselves in a deep hole.
Early foul trouble plagued Ole Miss, as the Irish made their way to the free-throw line to grow their lead. The first made three of the day from Ole Miss by Kennedy Todd-Williams closed the Irish advantage to two possessions before Notre Dame ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to go up 21-9.
Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin was able to get some meaningful production out of her team in the second quarter. The group nearly doubled their scoring from the prior quarter, but it was not enough to pull within contention as Notre Dame posted a 43-26 lead at the midway break.
The shots kept falling for the Irish after the half. Notre Dame extended its lead by as many as 24 in the third quarter. The Rebel defense managed to slow the Irish down at one point, forcing three turnovers in two minutes as the offense took off on an 8-0 run. However, Notre Dame remained hot from the field to lead 61-42 through three.
Though having a deep hole to climb out of, the Rebels did not lie down. Ole Miss chipped away at the Irish lead, bringing the game within 14 points with just over seven minutes remaining. Despite holding Notre Dame scoreless for three minutes in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss did not score enough consistently to attempt a successful comeback over the Irish.
Madison Scott and Todd-Williams led the Rebels with 15 points each, with Scott scoring in double-figures for the 12th game in a row and Todd-Williams for the 10th.
Notre Dame had a trio of players reach double figures on the scoreboard. Maddy Westbeld led the way with 20 points. Hannah Hidalgo scored 19. Sonia Citron had a double-double consisting of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Ole Miss will begin the 2024-25 season in November.
