The Ole Miss Rebels’ overwhelming frontcourt size and a perfectly balanced offensive effort, highlighted by Latasha Lattimore’s 15 points and a impactful return from Sira Thienou,-powered an 81-66 first-round NCAA Tournament victory over a game but overmatched Gonzaga squad.
MINNEAPOLIS — The blueprint for a deep March Madness run often requires a singular star to take over. For the Ole Miss Rebels, their path forward was forged in collective effort and a physical advantage so pronounced it dictated every possession.
Latasha Lattimore finished with a game-high 15 points, but she was one of five Rebels in double figures in a commanding 81-66 first-round victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Cotie McMahon added 13 points and six in the opening quarter, while Sira Thienou, playing her first game since a February knee injury, contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, and four blocked shots. The win propels the No. 5-seed Rebels (24-11) to a second-round date with the winner of Minnesota vs. Green Bay.
“If we start the game off how we did this game moving forward, I feel like we’ll be in a pretty good spot,” McMahon said afterward. The sentiment underscored a performance that was both strategically dominant and physically overwhelming.
The Balanced Attack That Rendered Gonzaga’s Defense Powerless
Gonzaga, the West Coast Conference champions, entered with a potent offense but met a Mississippi team that deployed wave after wave of capable scorers. The Rebels’ unselfishness was statistical poetry: four players scored between 11 and 15 points, preventing the Bulldogs from keying on any single threat.
This balance was a direct result of a month-long absence. Sira Thienou’s return from a bone bruise didn’t just add a body to the rotation; it added a defensive force and a efficient post scorer who immediately impacted the game’s flow. Her presence allowed Latasha Lattimore and Cotie McMahon to operate more freely on the perimeter and in the mid-range, spacing the floor in a way Gonzaga’s smaller lineup could not handle.
The offense was not explosive in bursts but consistently punishing. After a quiet start, McMahon’s second-quarter 3-pointer capped a 14-4 run that blew the game open, sending the Rebels to the locker room with a 39-23 lead that felt insurmountable given the physical mismatch.
A Defensive Pressure That Forced Historical Struggles
The offensive efficiency was made possible by a suffocating, swarming defense that had Gonzaga in unfamiliar distress from the opening tip.
The Bulldogs did not score their first basket until 5:06 remained in the first quarter. They missed their first seven field goal attempts, and three of their first four shots were sent back by the lengthy Ole Miss frontcourt. The quarter was a disaster: 4-for-14 shooting, seven turnovers, and two shot clock violations directly caused by the Rebels’ relentless on-ball pressure.
“Just the pressure that they applied, it was different,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier conceded, a telling admission from a veteran coach. “That’s what happens when you play in the NCAA Tournament. Every team that you play is really good or really big or really athletic or really hot, like maybe all of those things.” For Mississippi, it was definitely “all of those things,” beginning with their sheer size.
The Inescapable Physical Disparity
This was not a game won on schemes alone; it was won on the measurement chart. Mississippi started four players and rotated six who stood 6-foot-1 or taller. Gonzaga had three.
The impact was visible on every defensive stand and offensive rebound. Rebels players routinely contested shots at the rim that Gonzaga players simply could not alter. On the offensive glass, Mississippi’s size created second-chance opportunities that wore down the Bulldogs’ resolve.
“The physicality in general was probably a little bit of a shock to us coming in,” said Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker, who battled for 13 rebounds. “I don’t think we’ve played at that level, and to have everyone constantly bringing that physicality every play and every possession, I think, was just hard for us.”
TheRebels, ranked 19th in the most recent AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll, made that physicality a constant, exhausting reality for 40 minutes.
Gonzaga’s Fight, Ultimately Not Enough
With their season fading, the Bulldogs showcased the resilience that won them the West Coast Conference. Trailing by as much as 33 points, Gonzaga closed the game on a 17-0 run, fueled by Allie Turner’s relentless attack. Turner finished with a magnificent 27 points, including a flurry of threes and eight late free throws. Teryn Gardner added three 3-pointers in the spurt.
“I think our team showed a lot of fight and it was honestly fun — the end of the game was fun,” Turner said. “It’s hard to play when you’re losing by 30, but Lisa told us every time-out, ‘Keep going, it’s one possession at a time,’ and I think we did that.”
The run cut the deficit to 10 with 47 seconds left, but it was too little, too late against a Mississippi team that never tightened its grip. The Bulldogs’ (24-10) strong season and conference championship concluded with a matchup against a stylistic nightmare.
What This Means for Mississippi’s Tournament Trajectory
This was a statement win. For a program making its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, avoiding the “first-round upset” label was paramount. They did so by playing to their undeniable strengths: length, defensive intensity, and a deep bench that produces.
The imminent return of Sira Thienou to full form transforms this team from a tough out to a true Final Four threat. Her ability to protect the rim and score efficiently in the post complements the guard play of Denim DeShields (11 points, four assists) and the all-around game of Latasha Lattimore.
The next opponent, whether it be the physical Gophers or the sharp-shooting Phoenix, will face the same daunting equation: solve a defense with multiple 6-foot-3+ players and score against a unit that disguises its help coverage exceptionally well. Mississippi didn’t just win a game; they announced a tournament identity.
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