Inside Madison Scott’s game-winner that sent Ole Miss women’s basketball to March Madness Sweet 16
There were two moments in Sunday’s game when Ole Miss women’s basketball point guard/forward Madison Scott could’ve withered.
The first came in the second quarter, when she picked up an early second foul. It sent the graduate student to the bench with the No. 5 seed Rebels leading No. 4 Baylor 24-16 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. She mostly watched from the bench for the remainder of the half as Baylor closed on a 10-0 run to take a three-point halftime lead.
Then, the game was tied with one minute to play. Scott, Ole Miss’ leading scorer this season, had missed her last four shots attempts. That didn’t matter, as she dribbled to her right off a ball screen, and elevated for the go-ahead elbow jump shot.
“A part of me wanted to be in my head, but I had to remember that I put up shots every single day,” Scott said. “That I shoot these shots, and I'm very capable of hitting these shots. … So when it came down to that last play, I just trusted the work that I put in, trusted God and just shot it.”
Scott’s make with 40 seconds remaining was the difference in Ole Miss’ 69-63 win at Baylor to send the Rebels to the March Madness Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons. The Rebels (22-10) will play either No. 1 UCLA or No. 8 Richmond on Friday in Spokane, Washington.
Scott was second on the team with 14 points.
One word to describe Madi - CLUTCH.@IAMMADISCOTT | #HottyToddypic.twitter.com/TSvF7tuG0J
— Ole Miss Women's BB (@OleMissWBB) March 23, 2025
KK Deans sealed the win for Ole Miss
The Rebels got a defensive stop after Scott’s shot, which prompted Baylor (28-8) to foul. Backup guard KK Deans was fouled three times in the final 29 seconds and made all six of her free throw attempts.
“Don't tell KK this, but I love her to death,” Rebels coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “She is really in a lot of ways a mini-me, and that's why she drives me nuts most times. But, she's fearless, she's a leader, she's competitive, and she's a winner.”
MORE: How I wound up covering Ole Miss vs Iowa State during March Madness with my identical twin
Deans scored 13 points — 11 in the fourth quarter — and was a team-high plus-22 in 23 minutes.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Madison Scott's game-winner sends Ole Miss to March Madness Sweet 16
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