Jan. 6, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

Ole Miss (10-4, 0-2 SEC) at No. 24/21 Vanderbilt (12-2, 0-1 SEC)
Date: January 8, 2012
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Arena: Memorial Gym
Radio: 105.5 & Q93.7 (Graham Doty)
Gametracker: OleMissSports.com
Streaming Video: OleMissSports.com
Series vs. Vanderbilt: VU leads, 24-15

QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss fell to 10-5 overall (0-2 SEC) this season after falling at home to Florida, 59-55, Thursday night.     
- Senior Nikki Byrd (14.5 ppg) and sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.2 ppg) lead Ole Miss in scoring.
- Byrd recorded her 15th career double-double (and 10th this season) against Florida with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Byrd recorded five consecutive double-doubles from Nov. 18 to Dec. 12.  She is the first player in the SEC this season to record double-digit double-doubles.
- Sophomore Kenyotta Jenkins recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in a loss to Florida.
- Byrd (10.5 rpg) and sophomore Pa'Sonna Hope (4.1 rpg) lead the team in rebounding.
- Byrd is 14th in the nation in rebounding in the NCAA stats released on January 6 and is currently ranked first in the SEC.
- Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm. She has a career record of 68-70 overall and 21-41 in SEC play.

REBELS TRAVEL TO VANDERBILT
Ole Miss will open the road portion of its SEC schedule on Sunday when the team travels to Vanderbilt for a 2 p.m. game.  The road game will mark the Rebels' first game on the road since a win at Lipscomb on December 16. The Rebels (10-5 overall, 0-2 SEC) are 7-3 at home this season and 3-2 on the road.  The team has won as many games this season (10) as the team won all of 2010-11 (10-19).     
 
ABOUT OLE MISS
Ole Miss is 10-5 overall this season and 0-2 in SEC play after falling to Florida, 59-55, on Thursday night.  The Rebels are led by Nikki Byrd (14.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg) and Valencia McFarland (13.2 ppg, 84 assists).  Sophomore Pa'Sonna Hope is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 4.1 rebounds per game. Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm.  

OLE MISS VS. VANDERBILT
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 24-15.  The Rebels and Commodores went 1-1 last season with each team winning on their home floor.  In Nashville, Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 13-3 and Ole Miss' last win in Nashville was a 77-73 Rebel win in 1987.
 
A LOOK AT VANDERBILT
The Commodores are ranked 24th this week in the AP Poll and 21st in the Coaches Poll.  Vanderbilt is 12-2 overall and 0-1 in SEC play after falling in its conference opener, 65-55, at South Carolina.  The Commodores are led by Christina Foggie (17.1 points per game) who leads four players in double figures.  Stephanie Holzer (7.2 rebounds per game) leads the team in rebounding.  As a team, Vanderbilt averages 78.2 points per game while holding its opponents to 55.7 points per game.  The Commodores are first in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 43.0 percent.

OLE MISS - VANDERBILT CONNECTIONS
Current Vanderbilt assistant coach Kim Rosamond spent five years as an assistant coach at Ole Miss starting in 1998.  She was also a four-year letterwinner for the Rebels from 1995-98.   

NEWS AND NOTES
One opposing team this season has shot over 50 percent from the floor against Ole Miss (LSU, 55.2%) ... Jasmine Trotter recorded a career-high four rebounds in four minutes in a win over SELA ... This season the Rebels have had two winning streaks of four or more games - a five-game winning streak from 11/18-12/3 and a four-game winning streak from 12/16-12/29 ... Ole Miss shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the floor (32-56) in a win over Cleveland State ...   ... The Rebels scored a season-high 41 points in the second half at Lipscomb while holding the Bisons to 18 points in the second half ... Nikki Byrd has doubled her rebound and scoring averages from last season and is averaging a career-high 14.5 ppg and a career-high 10.5 rpg ... Ole Miss' game against Central Michigan marked the first time this season the Rebels led at the half but lost the game ... Prior to the Central Michigan game this year where Ole Miss allowed 61 boards, the Rebels hadn't allowed 60+ rebounds since 2003 ...  From Nov. 18 to Dec. 3, Ole Miss has held four if its five opponents to 53 points or under ... Nikki Byrd has scored a team-high 26 points this season while also recording a team-high 17 rebounds ... Seven of Ole Miss' games this season have been decided by nine points or less ... Valencia McFarland and Nikki Byrd have started each game for Ole Miss ...  ... Ole Miss held South Alabama without a player scoring in double figures marking the first time since November 19, 2006 that the Rebels did not allow a player on an opposing team to score in double figures.

JENKINS RECORDS FIRST CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Sophomore Kenyotta Jenkins recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 10 rebounds in a loss to Florida on January 5.  She also recorded a career-high three blocks against Florida.  This season, she recorded a season-high 12 points in a win over SELA.  

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Senior forward Nikki Byrd is on pace to score over 900 career points and grab over 700 career rebounds.  To date, she has recorded 725 career points (218 this year) and 569 career rebounds (158 this year).  Byrd is averaging 14.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game this season.

Sophomore point guard Valencia McFarland is on pace to end her sophomore year with a total of over 750 career points and over 280 career assists.  McFarland has recorded 569 career points (198 this year) and 207 career assists (84 this year).  This season, she is averaging 13.2 points per game and 5.6 assists per game.

BYRD RANKED 14TH IN THE NATION IN REBOUNDING
In the latest NCAA stats released January 6,  senior forward Nikki Byrd is 14th in the nation in rebounding, averaging 10.5 rebounds per game.  The NCAA stats will be released again on Monday, January, 9.  Byrd is also ranked 15th in the nation in field goal percentage (57.3%) and third in double-doubles (10). Byrd has been ranked no higher than 14th in the nation in rebounding every week this season the national stats have been released.

MCFARLAND NEARING A TOP-20 RANKING NATIONALLY IN ASSISTS
In the latest NCAA stats released January 6, sophomore point guard Valencia McFarland is 21st in assists, averaging 5.6 assists per game.  She is also ranked 32nd nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.05).

BYRD RECORDS 15TH CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Senior Nikki Byrd recorded her 15th career double-double in a loss to Florida with 13 points and 11 rebounds. It is her 10 double-double of the season.  From Nov. 18 to Dec. 3, Byrd recorded five consecutive double-doubles to become the first player to record five consecutive double-doubles since Armintie Price in 2007.

With her 10th double-double of the year, Byrd becomes the first player since Arminite Price in 2006-07 to record at least 10 double-double in a season.  Byrd is also the first player in the SEC this year to record double-digit double-doubles.

Byrd, along with junior Courtney Marbra and sophomores Pa'Sonna Hope, Valencia McFarland, and Kenyotta Jenkins are the five active players with double-doubles.

Active Players With Double-Doubles
                                     Season    Career
Nikki Byrd                       10         15
Valencia McFarland           1           1
Kenyotta Jenkins             1           1
Courtney Marbra             0            2
Pa'Sonna Hope               0             2

BLOCK PARTY
As a team, Ole Miss recorded its third game of the year with at least five blocked shots as the team recorded six blocks in a loss to Florida on January 5.  Against SELA, Nikki Byrd became the first Ole Miss player to record five blocks in a game since 2008. For the season, Ole Miss has recorded 67 blocks with Byrd leading the way with 17 while Kenyotta Jenkins has recorded 13 and Pa'Sonna Hope has recorded 10. The Rebels recorded a season-high nine blocks in a win at Lipscomb.