The men had their turn, and now the stage is clear for the women.

The Ole Miss women’s basketball team will host Florida today for its first game inside the newly constructed Pavilion at Ole Miss (1 p.m., SEC Network).

The arena already has two games under its belt with the men hosting Alabama on Thursday in the grand opening and then Georgia Saturday night.

This is the first of three games in a span of five that the Rebels (9-6, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) will play inside the Pavilion.

The new home has brought good fortune to the Ole Miss basketball program as the men have won their first two games inside the Pavilion.

The women are hopeful they can find that same good luck as they are looking to bounce back from their first SEC loss against LSU on Thursday.

“I hope it brings some momentum for us playing for the first time at the Pavilion at Ole Miss or else I’m going to have to dress (former Ole Miss player-turned-broadcaster) Armintie (Price) out,” Ole Miss coach Matt Insell said after Thursday’s loss.

Another defensive test
Ole Miss welcomes in a Florida team that is on quite a roll. Florida (11-2, 1-1) defeated No. 11 Tennessee in a 74-66 upset on Thursday night for its first conference win of the season.

The Gators have three players averaging 10.4 points per game in Haley Lorenz, Cassie Peoples and Ronni Williams. Leeann Christinaki is averaging 10.3 points. The Gators as a team are averaging nearly 86 points a game, which could prove challenging for Ole Miss if the defense that shows up today is the same that showed up in Baton Rouge on Thursday.

Ole Miss lost that game, 70-54.

“Our defense wasn’t even close to what it’s been in the last several games,” Insell said. “We didn’t guard from the post position, we didn’t guard from the guard position. We allowed them to catch the ball wherever they wanted to catch it. … It’s a long season, we’ll figure things out and get better from it and get ready for a tough Florida team.”

The day’s festivities begin at 10:30 a.m. with a brunch inside the Pavilion leading up to the game at 1.