By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT wasn’t the type of performance that Bahamian head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin expected from her Ole Miss Lady Rebels as they fell short of advancing to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Yesterday, the Lady Rebels suffered a 72-56 loss to the Notre Dame Fightin Irish in the second round of the tournament.

Despite missing a couple of key players due to injuries, Notre Dame came out fighting and McPhee-McCuin said her Lady Rebels didn’t respond to the challenge.

Notre Dame, the ACC champions, jumped out to an early 21-9 lead after the 1st quarter and, at the half, they pushed their margin up by 17. To their credit, Ole Miss went on an 8-2 run to reduce the deficit to 14 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Notre Dame.

“Just want to congratulate Notre Dame. I thought they controlled the game from start to finish,” said McPhee-McCuin, a native of Grand Bahama who grew up playing and coaching under the tutelage of her legendary father Gladstone ‘Moon’ McPhee.

“You never want these moments to be in the way they are, especially when you’re on the losing end, especially when your team didn’t display what they needed to display for 40 minutes.”

Although they would have preferred to be preparing for their second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance, McPhee-McCuin said she will mix the bitter with the sweet.

“I’m super proud of our group and grateful for this opportunity and this experience,” said McPhee-McCuin, who just recently signed a contract extension with Ole Miss with an average salary of just over $1 million per year.

“Again, just recently, four years ago, we were 0-16 and now we put ourselves in a situation to at least go to a Sweet 16 every year and so really disappointed as far as that is concerned, but not really disappointed with the team and what we accomplished this season.”

Despite the loss, McPhee- McCuin said she was still pleased with their season, finishing third in the SEC Standings, giving the team their highest finish since the 1991-92 season.

They also reached 20 wins in the regular season, the third time in as many seasons under “Coach Yo.”

The Rebels also reached 10 conference wins for three straight seasons, the first time in programme history.

As they look ahead to next season, McPhee- McCuin will be looking to rely on Madison Scott as she makes her return, but will be without the services of Marquesha Davis and Tyia Singleton.

However, she will have Bahamian forward Rhema Collins coming back for her second season and coach McPhee-McCuin is hoping that her homegirl will start to come into her own as a sophomore.

McPhee-McCuin, by the way, was just recently named the head coach for the women’s national basketball team by the Bahamas Basketball Federation.

She held the position before and also served as an assistant coach with the men’s national basketball team.