On Selection Sunday, Ole Miss women's got a twin bill of good news.
Shortly after being selected as the No. 5 seed, Ole Miss finally got the green light on the final piece of the puzzle, a move that makes an already dangerous roster complete.
Sira Thienou is back and ready to roll.
Guard Sira Thienou is back from her injury
"I'm back," Thienou said March 15 about her injury status on her bruised bone.
"Everybody is back now," Thienou said. "We need everybody to show up every single day. No step back. There's no more cushion."
The 6'1" guard suffered an injury on Feb. 17 against Tennessee and has not played since. There were multiple times, especially during the Rebels' 4-game skid towards the end of the regular season, that Coach Yo pointed to Thienou’s absence as the moment the Rebels' momentum began to stall.
There were times when Thienou was rumors to come back in the SEC Tournament, but it never happened.
Now, however, McPhee-McCuin confirmed her return, saying that she will be a full-go for the NCAA Tournament and has been practicing over the last week and "looks great."
The exclamation point for Thienou is that she's returning to a much deeper rotation, with her supporting cast significantly leveling up during her absence. When she returns for Gonzaga, Coach Yo will have some flexibility between Thienou, Tianna Thompson, and Jayla Murray.
"It also looks different because Tianna and Jayla were able to get a tremendous amount of experience," McPhee-McCuin said. "When you think about it, we have depth now. Before Sira got hurt I don't think we had depth. I wasn't really playing those kids."
With Thienou back in the fold, Ole Miss is peaking at the right time, turning a hopeful Rebel Nation into a believer.