Jan. 10, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

Ole Miss (10-6 overall, 0-3 SEC) vs. Arkansas (11-4 overall, 0-3 SEC)
Date: January 12, 2012
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: Tad Smith Coliseum
Radio: Q93.7 (Graham Doty)
Gametracker: OleMissSports.com
Streaming Video: OleMissSports.com
Series vs. Arkansas: UM leads, 22-10

QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss fell to 10-6 overall (0-3 SEC) this season after falling in its first SEC road game at Vanderbilt, 68-52, Sunday afternoon.      
- Ole Miss’ 0-3 start to SEC play this season marks the first time since the 1999-00 season that the team has started 0-3 in conference play.
- Senior Nikki Byrd (14.6 ppg) and sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.0 ppg) lead Ole Miss in scoring.
- Byrd recorded her 16th career double-double (and 11th this season) against Vanderbilt with 15 points and 13 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.
- Byrd (10.7 rpg) and sophomore Pa’Sonna Hope (4.1 rpg) lead the team in rebounding.
- Byrd is 13th in the nation in rebounding in the NCAA stats released on January 9 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 68-71 overall and 21-42 in SEC play.

REBELS HOST RAZORBACKS
Ole Miss will host the Arkansas Razorbacks Thursday night at 7 p.m.  The Rebels (10-6 overall, 0-3 SEC) are 7-3 at home this season and 3-3 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 10-6 overall this season and 0-3 in SEC play after falling at Vanderbilt, 68-52, on Sunday afternoon.  The Rebels are led by Nikki Byrd (14.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg) and Valencia McFarland (13.0 ppg, 88 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. ARKANSAS
Ole Miss leads the all-time series, 22-10.  Last season Ole Miss beat No. 23 Arkansas on the road while the Razorbacks posted their first-ever win in Oxford.  The Rebels hold a 13-1 all-time advantage in games played in Oxford.  In the last 10 meetings between the two schools, Ole Miss leads, 7-3.
 
A LOOK AT ARKANSAS
Arkansas enters Thursday’s game 11-4 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.  The Razorbacks’ three SEC games to date have been against ranked teams in Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee and two of the three games have been on the road.  Arkansas is led by C’eira Ricketts (10.7 points per game) and Sarah Watkins (10.1 points per game).  Ashley Daniels leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.6 rebounds per game.  As a team, the Razorbacks average 62.7 points per while its opponents average 53.8 points per game.      

NEWS AND NOTES
Three times this season, Ole Miss has held its opponent to under 68 points but lost the game (at Lamar, Florida and at Vanderbilt) ... The Rebels (0-3 SEC) have not started SEC play 0-4 since 1999-00 ... 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 14.6 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.

BYRD RANKED 13TH IN THE NATION IN REBOUNDING
In the latest NCAA stats released January 9,  senior forward Nikki Byrd is 13th in the nation in rebounding, averaging 10.7 rebounds per game.  The NCAA stats will be released again on Friday, January, 13.  Byrd is also ranked 19th in the nation in field goal percentage (56.1%) and third in double-doubles (11). 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 9, sophomore point guard Valencia McFarland is 26th in assists, averaging 5.5 assists per game.  She is also ranked 45th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83).

BYRD RECORDS 16TH CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Senior Nikki Byrd recorded her 16th career double-double in a loss at Vanderbilt with 15 points and 13 rebounds.  It is her 11 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 11th double-double of the year, Byrd becomes the first player since Armintie 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    11    16
Valencia McFarland     1    1
Kenyotta Jenkins    1    1
Courtney Marbra    0    2
Pa’Sonna Hope     0    2

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 740 career points (233 this year) and 582 career rebounds (171 this year).  Byrd is averaging 14.6 points per game and 10.7 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 579 career points (208 this year) and 211 career assists (88 this year).  This season, she is averaging 13.0 points per game and 5.5 assists per game.

MCFARLAND LEADS TEAM IN ASSISTS...AGAIN
Sophomore Valencia McFarland, who has led the team in assists in 13 games this season, has 88 assists in 16 games for an average of 5.5 assists per game.  She has recorded at least five assists in 21 career games for Ole Miss. This season she has recorded double-digit assists in two games with 10 against Cleveland State and a career-high 11 in a win over SELA.   As a freshman, she finished the year with a team-leading 123 assists.

REBELS IN DOUBLE FIGURES
For the season, Ole Miss players have recorded a total of 32 double-digit scoring games.  Nikki Byrd leads the team with 16 double-digit scoring games while Valencia McFarland has recorded 10.  Maggie McFerrin, Amber Singletary and Kenyotta Jenkins have each recorded two while Whitney Hameth has recorded one.