By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE losing a big game to Louisiana State University Lady Tigers, Bahamian head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said she’s still pleased with the way her Ole Miss Lady Rebels basketball team are playing this year.

Coming off the Christmas break, the Lady Rebels split their first two games of the season, winning 55-45 over the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday, January 4 before they fell 84-73 to LSU on Sunday.

The Lady Rebels, with a Bahamian connection in Rhema Collins joining the team this year as a freshman, fell to 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference and are 11-4 on the season, but McPhee-McCuin, a Grand Bahamian native, said there’s still a lot more basketball to be played.

“We just lost a tough one yesterday to LSU, the number ranked team in the country,” she said.

“We had some opportunities, but we fumbled and now we are focused on what’s next.”

“What’s next is two more games this week on Thursday and Sunday. One is Auburn at home and then our in-state rivals Mississippi State on the road. We just have to get ready to play those two games to get us back to where we need to be.”

McPhee-McCuin said the season is a journey and they just have to be prepared for the highs and the lows when they play. She admitted that it will only make her team better as they seek to get another crack at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament at the end of the season in March.

“It’s not always going to be just one particular week that we will succeed,” she pointed out. “We have to stay focused on trying to win more than you lose. So, if we can get that down pact. we will be alright.”

With about 14 games left in the regular season, McPhee-McCuin said she expects that her team will continue to grow.

“There are some things we need to tighten up on both sides of the court on the defensive and offensive end,” she stressed. “We have to continue to figure out ways to put ourselves in a situation to be successful against any team, to see different styles of play as we go through the SEC.

“We are still young. We are still growing. So, every time we play, we are trying to be better.”

Collins, the 6-feet, 2-inches forward from New Providence, didn’t play in the game because of a coach’s decision. But in the five games she’s played since coming off a concussion that prevented her from playing at the start of the season, McPhee-McCuin said she’s making some progress.

“Rhema is back. She’s healthy and looking strong, so I’m excited about her,” said McPhee-McCuin, of Collins, who is averaging 2.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. “She just needs to get minutes when there’s opportunities for her to get it.

“Rhema’s best basketball is ahead of her. So right now my focus is to make sure that she continues to get better, nothing more, nothing less. She is just a freshman and due to her concession, she missed a great part of the pre-season where she would have gotten some tremendous reps.”

Now that she’s back, McPhee-McCuin said she’s coming along slowly, but surely and as a freshman, she’s trying to figure it out as the season goes on. McPhee-McCuin, however, insisted that she has some work to do just as the Lady Rebels.

But she’s confident that both Collins and Ole Miss will be a force to reckon with down the stretch.