NCAAW: Are the Ole Miss Rebels the nation’s best two-loss team?

Being the nation’s best two-loss team isn’t exactly a coveted crown. Coaches, players and fans would prefer to own the “undefeated” tag for as long as possible.

Yet, the Ole Miss Rebels, ranked No. 18 in the latest AP poll with a 5-2 record, should be proud to be the nation’s top two-loss team. (Even if the No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish believe the title should belong to them.)

They also might be poised to the disrupt the SEC. While the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks, No. 4 Texas Longhorns and No. 5 LSU Tigers have Final Four visions and the new-look No. 14 Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Lady Vols appear increasingly frisky, the overlooked team from Oxford could not only obstruct opponents’ aspirations, but also could vault themselves atop the conference.

Rebels with a (defensive) cause

The Rebels opened the season in Paris, expected to be the collateral for the then-No. 3 ranked USC Trojans’ early-season coronation. It was an international stage for sophomore superstar JuJu Watkins, surrounded by a reloaded supporting cast. Ole Miss, of course, had other plans, requiring USC to battle to the buzzer for a hard-fought, ugly 68-66 victory. The Rebels had 15 steals and forced the Trojans into 25 turnovers, including nine by Watkins.

It was the kind of defensive performance that shows the Rebels are capable of competing with any and all comers. As USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after the game, “I’m really impressed with Ole Miss. They’re going to win a ton of games.” For the season, Ole Miss is forcing over 24 turnovers per game, a mark that ranks in the top 20 nationally and third in the SEC. It’s a team-wide effort, too. Seven Rebels are snagging at least one steal per game, led by freshman guard Sira Thienou’s 2.3 steals per contest.

The Rebels dialed up a similar defensive performance against another top team last week, meeting the No. 2-ranked UConn Huskies in the Baha Mar Women’s Championship. Ole Miss caused plenty of trouble for UConn, forcing the Huskies into a season-high 17 turnovers.

The Rebels also held the Huskies to a season-low 14 3-point attempts and a season-worst three 3-point makes. Shutting down opponents’ outside shooting has been an essential element in Ole Miss’ fourth-ranked defense, which is allowing only 47.1 points per game. For the season, Rebels’ opponents are shooting just 20 percent from behind the arc. No matter how aggressive the team might be in closing out on shooters, that number is unsustainably low. Yet, that Ole Miss is allowing so few attempts from deep is replicable, suggesting that, even if an opponent enjoys a hot shooting night from long range, which inevitably will happen, the Rebels could survive by continuing to limit 3-point attempts.

Even though Ole Miss gave UConn a scare, recovering from a poor first half to reel off a 28-15 third quarter, despite head coach Geno Auriemma warning his team that a Rebel surge was coming, they could not hang on in the final period, falling 73-60.

Nevertheless, the Rebels’ showings against the Trojans and Huskies, not to mention how they’ve shut down overmatched mid majors, suggests their defense could be strong enough to stifle the SEC’s titans. South Carolina, in particular, could be susceptible, especially since Coach Yo’s teams traditionally have played Dawn Staley’s squads tough. In contrast to offensively-explosive Texas and LSU, teams that might have enough juice to overcome even the best defensive efforts that Ole Miss can muster, South Carolina has not consistently generated good offense this season, falling into bouts of clunkiness that they largely avoided last season. But, that game’s a long way off, scheduled for Feb. 27 in Oxford.

Before then, Ole Miss also needs to sharpen things on the offensive end.

The Rebels’ cause for concern

The saying goes, “Defense wins championships.” And thus far, elite, aggressive and unrelenting defense has allowed Ole Miss to compete with championship-caliber teams, but, to actually defeat such teams, as well as to chase a championship themselves, the other side of the floor also matters, and offense could prove to be a reoccurring obstacle for the Rebels.

For the season, Ole Miss is shooting 43 percent from the field. From 2-point range, it’s 48.2 percent; from 3, it’s 30.8 percent. So far, the Rebels have been able to overcome less than sparkling shooting by taking a lot of shots. Their more than 68 shots attempts per game ranks 21st nationally. Nearly 20 offensive boards per game help the Rebels generate all those attempts, turning missed shots into Kobe Assists. Volume, rather than efficiency, is Ole Miss’ scoring solution. Still, the best teams in the sport wed volume and efficiency.

The Rebels, however, have plenty of capable offensive players. If everyone’s shooting percentages tick up a point or two, the team soon will be scoring more than their 78.3 points per game, which ranks ninth in the SEC. That begins with KK Deans, the grad guard who missed almost all of last season with a knee injury after transferring from Florida. She brings self-created scoring pop from the perimeter, and is taking a career-best 6.7 3s per game. As Coach Yo emphasized after the USC game, Deans also plays with a fearless spirit:

She plays with a lot of passion. The team feeds off her and she’s not afraid of the big moment… She’s just someone that, if you want to go to war, you want to go with someone with her personality that is a competitor and that wants to win.

Grad guard Kennedy Todd-Williams also sports a sweet jumper that, at 5-foot-11, she can get off with relative ease. After a pair of standout seasons at UT Arlington, senior forward Starr Jacobs has introduced her forceful inside scoring game in Oxford, turning o-boards into easy scores as she shoots a team-best 66 percent from the field. That trio all is averaging at least 11 points per game, equipping Ole Miss with offensive balance.

Such contributions have lessened the scoring load on grad wing Madison Scott, who has upped her facilitation, all while continuing to be one of the nation’s best defensive playmakers. Increased opportunity for Thienou, the freshman guard who is scoring 10.7 points per game and shooting 37.5 percent from 3, also could give the Rebels some extra scoring punch.

In short, Ole Miss is not without solves for their less-than-perfect offensive attack.

What’s next for Ole Miss?

And on Wednesday, the Rebels’ elite defense and good-enough offense will be put to test against a team with a similar profile, as the NC Wolfpack arrive in Oxford for the SEC/ACC Challenge (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Expect a slugfest, where whichever team more efficiently converts defensive stops into offensive scores is more likely to get the win.

And if the home team prevails, their claim to be the nation’s best two-loss team will only be stronger.