Jan. 8, 2013

Ole Miss Game Notes

OLE MISS REBELS (7-8, 0-2 SEC)
Acting head coach: Brett Frank (SOSU, 1995)
Career record: 7-8 (1 yr.) Record at Ole Miss: Same

AUBURN TIGERS (12-3, 1-1 SEC)
Head coach: Terri Williams-Flournoy (Penn State, 1991)
Career record: 155-107 (9th yr.) Record at Auburn: 12-3 (1st yr.)

Date/Time: Thurs., Jan. 10/ 6 p.m. CT
Site: Auburn, Ala. |Auburn Arena (9,121)
TV: None
Radio: Q93.7/105.5FM
    Talent: Graham Doty (play-by-play)
Streaming Video: OleMissSports.com
Gametracker: OleMissSports.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissWBB
Series:
    Overall: AU, 30-23    
    Oxford: UM,11-10
    Auburn: AU, 5-7
    Neutral: AU, 5-4
    Last meeting: AU, 46-43, 2/26/12 at AU
     Frank vs. Auburn: 0-0

NOTES:
• Ole Miss will travel to Auburn on Thursday for a 6 p.m. game against the Tigers.
• Thursday’s game marks the 54th meeting between Ole Miss and Auburn. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 30-23.
• Ole Miss is coming off a 76-57 loss at home to Vanderbilt on Sunday.
• Diara Moore scored in double figures for the 11th time this season as she scored 15 points against Vanderbilt.
• Tia Faleru recorded her third career double-double against LSU with a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds.
• Diara Moore leads the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game, Valencia McFarland is second on the team averaging 11.1 points per game followed by Tia Faleru with 10.3 points per game.
• Courtney Marbra leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. Kenyotta Jenkins is second, averaging 5.4 rpg.
• Valencia McFarland recorded her 12th career 20-point game with 20 points against McNeese State.  She is the third player this season to score at least 20 points, joining teammates Diara Moore (25 points) and Gracie Frizzell (21 points).   
• Valencia McFarland has recorded 942 career points and is looking to become the 25th player in school history to score at least 1,000 career points.

UP NEXT:
Ole Miss will play its next two games at home starting with a game on Jan. 13 against Alabama at 1:30 p.m. (SPSO) followed by a game on Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. vs. Missouri (Cox Sports TV).
SCOUTING AUBURN
Auburn is 12-3 this season and 1-1 in SEC play. The Tigers are coming off a 82-76 loss at Missouri on Sunday.  Auburn is led by Hasina Muhammad who is averaging a team-best 16.6 points per game and Tyrese Tanner who is averaging 13.1 points per game.  Peyton Davis leads the team in rebounding averaging 5.7 rebounds per game followed by Muhammad who is averaging 5.6.  As a team, the Tigers are 8-0 at home this season.

Auburn leads the all-time series between the two schools, 30-23. The Tigers have won the last three meetings between the two schools. The Rebels’ last win over Auburn was a 65-61 win at home on February 25, 2010.

ABOUT OLE MISS
Ole Miss is coming off a 76-57 loss to Vanderbilt on Sunday.  The Rebels will play its seventh road game in an eight-game stretch Thursday when the team travels to Auburn for a 6 p.m. tip with the Tigers.  Ole Miss is led by Diara Moore (11.4 points per game), Valencia McFarland (11.1 points per game) and Tia Faleru (10.3 points per game).  Courtney Marbra leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game followed by Kenyotta Jenkins who is averaging 5.4 rebounds per game.  Brett Frank is in his first year as acting head coach for the Rebels. He has a career record of 7-8 overall and 0-2 in the SEC.

FOLLOW THE REBELS
Ole Miss’ regular-season games can be heard on WTNM Supertalk Mississippi (105.5 FM) or Q93.7 FM with the pregame show starting 15 minutes before tipoff.  Graham Doty, in his second season calling Ole Miss women’s basketball games, will be on the call.

Game updates via Twitter will be available all season at @OleMissWBB. All home games that are not on TV will be streamed online through the subscription-based RebelVision.

PROMOTIONAL CORNER
Sunday’s game against Alabama is Take A Kid To The Game Day.  Admission is FREE for all children eighth grade and under and the first 250 children will get a FREE basketball toy.  Ole Miss will hold an autograph session on the court after the game. The game will also be broadcast on SPSO.


OLE MISS IN THE SEC STATS (AS OF 1/6/13)
As a team, Ole Miss is fifth in free throw percentage (.707), third in rebounding offense (42.5 rpg), third in offensive rebounds (18.1), sixth in steals (10.6 spg) and ninth in three pointers made (4.8).  Individually, Valencia McFarland is fifth in assists (5.0 apg), first in assist to turnover ratio (3.3) and tied for fourth in steals (2.8 spg).  Gracie Frizzell is eighth in three pointers made (1.9) and Diara Moore is sixth in free throw percentage (78.7).

McFARLAND TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
Ole Miss point guard Valencia McFarland leads the SEC and is second in the nation in assist to turnover ratio (3.3). In SEC play, McFarland has recorded 14 assists to one turnover. For the season she has recorded 75 assists to 23 turnovers in 15 games. She has recorded 10 games this season with five or more assists including the last six games. For her career, McFarland has 34 games with five or more assists and has recorded 340 career assists to 194 career turnovers.

MOORE LEADS THE TEAM IN DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING GAMES
Through 15 games this season, Diara Moore leads the team double-figure scoring games with 11 followed by Valencia McFarland with 10. Tia Faleru has scored in double figures seven times and Gracie Frizzell has scored in double figures in five games.

McFARLAND IN THE NCAA STATS
In the latest set of NCAA stats released on Monday Jan. 6, Valencia McFarland is ranked second in assist to turnover ratio (3.26), and is 51st in the nation in assists per game (5.0).  NCAA stats are released every Monday and Friday.

McFARLAND DISHING OUT ASSISTS
As of Jan. 6, Valencia McFarland is fifth in the SEC in assists per game, averaging 5.0 and she leads Ole Miss with 75 assists. In the last six games, McFarland is averaging 7.0 assists per game.  She has recorded 34 career games with at least five assists per game, including 10 games this year.  McFarland recorded a season-high nine assists on two occasions this year.

FALERU BREAKING OUT
Entering her sophomore season, Tia Faleru had scored in double figures in three games and grabbed double-digit rebounds in two games.  This season, she has scored in double figures in six games and pulled down double-digit rebounds in two games.  She scored a career-high 18 points against LSU, has recorded two double-doubles.  Over the last nine games, Faleru is averaging 12.0 points per game.  For the season, she is averaging 10.3 points per game.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Junior point guard Valencia McFarland has recorded 942 career points.  She is aiming to become the 25th player in school history to record at least 1,000 career points. If she accomplishes the feat this season as a junior, she would be the 14th player in school history to hit 1,000 career points as a junior.

McFarland also has another program milestone to keep her eye on during her career, as she aims to become just the third person in Ole Miss history to score at least 1,000 point, 500 assists and 250 steals. McFarland currently has 942 points, 340 assists and 146 steals.  She’s looking to join Carol Ross (1977-81) and Glenda Springfield (1975-79).