OXFORD, Miss. — After her Ole Miss women's basketball team lost 84-73 to LSU, coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin grabbed a microphone at halfcourt and gave an impromptu plea, one she repeated later in her postgame news conference.
"I'm not being a debbie downer, but if we could have this crowd every time we play," she said. "I'm not even asking for 9,000. I'm asking for 5,000. Our players are just not used to playing in front of this type of crowd.
"I had to get that off my chest," she said.
LSU hasn't played on the road at Ole Miss since Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. That game, during coach Kim Mulkey's first season in Baton Rouge, drew an official crowd of 2,209.
Almost two years later, after a record number of viewers tuned in to see LSU and Iowa clash for a national championship, the two teams faced off in front of a crowd over four times the size of that first one.
Officially, 9,074 fans filled the Sandy and John Black Pavilion Sunday afternoon, breaking an attendance record not only for the eight-year-old arena, but also for the Ole Miss women's basketball program.
"It was awesome for Ole Miss," Mulkey said. "It was awesome for LSU. It was awesome for the SEC, and I don't know if they came to see us, but so be it. It was good. Great atmosphere, and Ole Miss fans need to keep doing that. They have a good team."
Last season, the Rebels reached the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, where they lost 72-62 to Louisville. This year, they opened the season ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Poll but fell out of the rankings after losing to Oklahoma, Louisville and Southern Miss.
On Sunday, Ole Miss pushed No. 7 LSU (15-1), testing its resolve with a third quarter run that erased a 13-point halftime deficit. The Rebels took five more free throw attempts than LSU and earned eight-point advantages both in the paint and on the fast break.
But the Tigers' 8-of-13 shooting day from beyond the arc was enough to propel them forward. Mikaylah Williams, the star freshman from Bossier City, shot 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 5 from long range, scoring 20 points to pair with seven rebounds and four steals.
"I thought Ole Miss scored the ball better than they have been," Mulkey said, "and that's a compliment to their team, but then it's also a challenge for me to go back and go, well how did they score 73 points?"
As LSU rebuilt its lead, Angel Reese relished the loud, competitive environment. After one defensive possession, she taunted the Ole Miss student section. And after a few other offensive sets, she ran back down the floor, waving and motioning to the crowd.
Reese finished with a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds, six of which she pulled down on the offensive glass. She also shot 7 of 10 from the free throw line and contributed four assists and three steals.
After the game, Mulkey said she feels confident that Reese and sophomore guard Flau'jae Johnson have the experience to help lead LSU to wins in hostile environments like the one it faced on Sunday in its first Southeastern Conference road game of the season.
"This is what competitors do," Mulkey said. "They view that crowd as their crowd, that crowd came to see us. And when you have that mindset, the louder it gets, you kind of block it out. That doesn't factor into anything that goes on on the floor.
"Kudos to Ole Miss. I thought it was a good competitive game today."