What to know about Notre Dame women's basketball next March Madness opponent, Ole Miss

Four things to know about seventh-seeded Mississippi (24-8), which will face second-seeded host Notre Dame (27-6) in a second-round NCAA Tournament women’s basketball game Monday at Purcell Pavilion (2 p.m., ESPN). It’ll be the first-ever meeting between the two tradition-rich programs:

The Rebels are seeking their second straight Sweet 16 and 12th overall after a year ago as an eighth seed stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49.

Ole Miss also rolled by No. 9 seed Gonzaga 71-48 in the first round before losing to fifth seed Louisville 72-62 in a regional semifinal.

The Rebels are making their third straight NCAA Tourney appearance and have won at least 23 games each of the last three seasons.

They went 12-4 for third place in the SEC this winter, finishing behind only top-ranked South Carolina (16-0) and No. 8-rated defending national champ LSU (13-3).

Ole Miss is deep, veteran-loaded and largely portal-powered.

Six of the Rebels’ top eight point producers are transfers.

Top scorer Marquesha Davis (14.3 points per game) is in her second season at Ole Miss after three at Arkansas; Kennedy Todd-Williams (10.4 ppg) is in her first after three at North Carolina; KK Deans (9.3 ppg, but out for the season due to injury after six games) her first after four between West Virginia and Florida; Kharyssa Richardson (6.0 ppg) her first after a year at Auburn; Rita Igbokwe (4.8 ppg, 5.8 rebounds) her second after three at Pittsburgh; and Tyia Singleton (4.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) her second after four at Rutgers.

Conversely, the Rebels also feature a pair of senior standouts who have spent their whole careers aboard in Madison Scott (12.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.4 assists) and Snudda Collins (9.6 ppg).

Ole Miss got acclimated to Purcell on Saturday with a 67-55 first round win over 10th seed Marquette.

The game was tight most of the way, but the Rebels outscored the Golden Eagles 27-14 over the final 15:23.

Ole Miss attempted just five 3-pointers (making two), but that was true to its season form of not relying much on triples. The Rebels convert just 3.1 per game and 26.6% of their tries outside the arc overall.

Among other numbers, though, they turn opponents over 17.0 times per game with a hawking defense to 15.5 miscues of their own, limit opponents to 37.6% from the field and have a rebounding margin per game of plus-8.6.

As for opponents in common with the Irish, Ole Miss lost 64-58 to visiting Louisville early in the season and 85-56 at South Carolina. ND went 2-1 against the Cardinals and fell 100-71 to the Gamecocks in the Paris season opener.

Rebel coach Yolet McPhee-McCuin is both the first Bahamas-born woman to sign a Division I basketball letter of intent and the first Bahamian woman to lead a D-I program.

Coach Yo, 41, attained that second distinction in 2013 with her hiring at Jacksonville, where over the final three of her five years she led the program to a 69-29 mark with an NCAA Tourney appearance and two WNIT bids.

She’s in her sixth season at Ole Miss with a 72-26 record over the last three years on the heels of 31-57 over the first three.

As a player, she initially signed at Florida Atlantic before playing at Miami-Dade Community College for two years and closing with two years at Rhode Island.