Feb. 3, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

Ole Miss (12-11 overall, 2-8 SEC) at Florida (14-8 overall, 4-5 SEC)
Date: February 5, 2012
Time: 1 p.m. CT
Location: Gainesville, Fla.
Arena: O'Connell Center
Radio: Q93.7 & 105.5(Graham Doty)
Online: Gametracker
Series vs. Florida: UM leads, 16-14

QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss fell to 12-11 overall (2-8 SEC) this season after falling on the road at No. 6 Kentucky, 82-41, Thursday night.                
- Ole Miss will play four of its final six regular-season games on the road.
- Freshman Monique Jackson made her first career start against No. 6 Kentucky.  She tied her career high in points with four and recorded a career-best six rebounds in 16 minutes of play.
- Sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.3 ppg) and senior Nikki Byrd (13.1 ppg) lead Ole Miss in scoring.
- Byrd recorded her 17th career double-double (and 12th this season) against Mississippi State with 12 points and 14 rebounds.  
- Byrd (9.5 rpg) and sophomore Kenyotta Jenkins (3.7 rpg) lead the team in rebounding.
- Ole Miss has scored fewer than 50 points in five SEC games this season including three in a row against Mississippi State, Georgia and at South Carolina.
- Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm. She has a career record of 70-76 overall and 23-47 in SEC play.

REBELS TRAVEL TO PLAY GATORS
Ole Miss will try to get back on the winning track when the team travels to Florida Sunday for a 1 p.m. CT game with the Gators. Ole Miss (12-11 overall, 2-8 SEC) is 8-6 at home this season and 4-5 on the road.  With six regular-season games remaining, the Rebels have won more games this season (12) than they did all of 2010-11 (10).

ABOUT OLE MISS
Ole Miss is 12-11 overall this season and 2-8 in SEC play after falling on the road at No. 6 Kentucky, 82-41.  The Rebels are led by Nikki Byrd (13.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg) and Valencia McFarland (13.3 ppg, 5.1 apg).  Sophomore Kenyotta Jenkins is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 3.7 rebounds per game. Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm.  

OLE MISS VS. FLORIDA
Ole Miss leads the all-times series with Florida, 16-14. Florida won the last meeting between the two schools, 59-55, in Oxford on January 5, 2012.  In the last 10 games in the series, the Gators lead, 6-4.  Five of the last six meetings between the two schools have been decided by eight points or less.  Ole Miss won the last meeting in Gainesville, a 61-59 win on February 3, 2011.  
 
A LOOK AT FLORIDA
Florida is 14-8 overall and 4-5 in SEC play after winning on the road at LSU, 73-64, Thursday night.  The Gators are led by Jennifer George who averages 13.1 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game.  Jordan Jones is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game while Deana Allen is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 5.6 points per game.  As a team Florida averages 67.5 points per game while its opponents average 59.5.                

NEWS AND NOTES
At No. 6 Kentucky, Ole Miss was held without a player scoring in double figures for the first time since March of 2008 ... The Rebels turned the ball over a season-high 36 times against the Wildcats ... In Ole Miss' SEC games against Georgia and South Carolina, the team was outscored in the first half by an average of 23.5 points, but outscored their opponent by an average of 7.5 points in the second half ... Seven times this season, Ole Miss has held its opponent to under 68 points but lost the game (at Lamar, Florida, at Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Georgia, at South Carolina and Auburn) ... Nine of Ole Miss' game this season have been decided by nine points or less ... The Rebels won back-to-back SEC games for the first time since January of 2010 when the team won five straight conference games ... Ole Miss' 14-point margin of victory at Alabama marked the Rebels' biggest margin of victory over and SEC opponent since January 21, 2010 when Ole Miss beat Mississippi State, 66-58 ... Ole Miss recorded 20 assists on 22 field goals in its win over Arkansas ... One opposing team this season has shot over 50 percent from the floor against Ole Miss (LSU, 55.2%) ... 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 ...  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 ...  Nikki Byrd has scored a team-high 26 points this season while also recording a team-high 17 rebounds.

JACKSON RECORDS FIRST CAREER START
Freshman Monique Jackson recorded her first career start at No. 6 Kentucky.  She tied her career high in points with four and recorded a career-high six rebounds.

BYRD RANKED FOURTH IN THE NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In the latest NCAA stats released February 3,   senior forward Nikki Byrd is fourth in the nation in double-doubles with 12.  She is also 38th in the nation in rebounding, averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.  The NCAA stats will be released again on Monday, February, 6.  Byrd has been ranked as high as fourth in the nation in rebounding this season.  

FALERU RECORDS FIRST CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Freshman Tia Faleru had a career day in Ole Miss' loss to No. 15 Georgia.  She recorded her first career double-double with career highs in both points (13) and rebounds (10).  While she is averaging 4.2 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game this season, in the team's last six games Faleru is averaging 8.0 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game.

OFFENSIVE WOES
Ole Miss' game at No. 6 Kentucky on February 2 marked the fifth time in SEC play that Ole Miss failed to score at least 50 points in a game.  The Rebels scored 46 against Mississippi State, 47 against No. 15 Georgia, 43 at South Carolina and 41 at No. 6 Kentucky, all games Ole Miss lost.  The Rebels also scored 44 in a loss to LSU and 48 in a loss to nationally-ranked Miami.  The last time Ole Miss scored 50 points or fewer and won was a 46-45 win over Auburn on January 25, 1984. During SEC play this season, Ole Miss is averaging 64.5 points per game in its wins and 47.8 points per game in its losses.  

BYRD CRACKS CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE LIST
With 17 career double-doubles, senior Nikki Byrd has moved into a tie for ninth all-time at Ole Miss in career double-doubles.  Byrd is tied for ninth all-time with Tarsha Bethley who played from 1996-99.  Three more double-doubles from Byrd would give her sole possession of eighth all-time, passing Yolanda Moore who recorded 19 from 1993-96.