Making the most of their at-large bid to the 2007 NCAAs, the Ole Miss Lady Rebels advanced to the second round of the tournament for the first time since 1994, defeating the Texas Christian University Lady Frogs 88-74 in the first round of the Dayton regional. Having lost 3 of their last 6 games, including a quarterfinal loss to LSU at the SEC Tournament, coach Carol Ross and her running Rebs used the ensuing 2 week break to regroup in preparation for the beginning of their “second” season. Ole Miss did not receive a bid to the NCAAs last season, and senior All-everything Armintie Price said they used that as motivation to make the most of their opportunities this time around.

Ole Miss came out pressing TCU, and never let up. Price, who leads the Rebels both statistically and emotionally, led the way in this game as well, tallying 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in 39 minutes of play. Price, a lock to be a WNBA first-round draft pick in April, led a balanced scoring attack, with 4 other Lady Rebels in double figures. Freshman Alliesha Easley had 14 points, senior Ashley Awkward added 12, sophomore Shawn Goff came off the bench to score 10, and junior Danitra Forrest scored 11 points to go with a team-high 8 rebounds. TCU was led by Ashley Davis with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Hanna Biernaka added 20 points and 9 boards. Adrianne Ross, the Mountain West co-player of the year, was double-teamed by Ole Miss almost every time she touched the ball. She finished with 9 points on 3 -of-11 shooting from the floor and committed a team high 7 turnovers.

At first glance, the box score shows 2 teams who seemed to be evenly matched. TCU hit 27 of 62 shots (43.5%) for the game, Ole Miss hit 32 of 72 (44.4%). TCU was markedly better from 3-point range, connecting on 8 of 17 (47.1%) from long range to Ole Miss’ 3 of 14 (21.4%). But the glaring difference in the game came from Ole Miss’ pressing defense and solid work on the boards. Ole Miss outrebounded TCU 37 to 26, and forced the Lady Frogs into 22 turnovers. The Lady Rebels converted those 22 turnovers into 39 points. "What you saw on the court is really who we are," coach Carol Ross said. "Defensively we scrap around and we try to make plays. We're not very big, but we're quick so we rebound the ball quickly and we force turnovers."

TCU, having advanced to the second round of the NCAAs 5 of the last 6 years, ended their season at 21-11. Ole Miss next faces #2 seed and defending NCAA champion Maryland on Tuesday.