Ole Miss Women's Basketball to Open Season in Paris vs. USC Trojans

Ole Miss Rebels women's basketball is set to open its 2024-25 season overseas against the USC Trojans.

Mar 23, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Ole Miss Rebels head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin celebrates with the Ole Miss band after defeating the Marquette Golden Eagles 67-55 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

As Ole Miss Rebels women's basketball prepares for another NCAA Tournament run, the team now knows where it will begin the 2024-25 season, and it comes overseas against a stout program.

The Rebels announced on Tuesday that they will open their campaign in Paris, France, against the USC Trojans on Nov. 4 as part of the 2024 Aflac Oui-Play. This game will serve as the first-ever meeting between the two programs, and Ole Miss and USC will become two of 17 total Division I men's or women's basketball programs in NCAA history to play a regular season game in Europe.

"I am extremely excited Ole Miss has been invited to play in Paris as part of one of the premier events in all of sport against an outstanding opponent in Southern Cal," head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said in a statement. "Playing in Europe to kick off the college basketball season is not only a once-in-a-lifetime cultural and educational experience for our student-athletes, but also is an opportunity to participate in an event that showcases women's basketball at the highest level and growth of our sport worldwide." 

Since arriving at Ole Miss in 2018, McPhee-McCuin has taken her program to new heights, reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons with a Sweet 16 appearance in 2023. The Rebels' qualification for the 2022 NCAA Tournament ended a postseason drought for the program that stretched back to 2007.

USC finished last season with an overall record of 29-6 and was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by UConn. In an offseason edition of a Way-Too-Early Top 25 from ESPN, the Trojans come in at No. 2 nationally while Ole Miss is ranked at No. 23.