Feb. 7, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

Ole Miss (12-12 overall, 2-9 SEC) vs. Alabama (10-14 overall, 0-10 SEC)
Date: February 9, 2012
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: Tad Smith Coliseum
Radio: 105.5 (Graham Doty)
Online: Gametracker
Online: RebelVision
Series vs. Alabama: UM leads, 33-18

QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss fell to 12-12 overall (2-9 SEC) this season after falling on the road at Florida, 84-55, Sunday afternoon.  
- Ole Miss will play three of its final five regular-season games on the road.
- Freshman Monique Jackson made her first career start against No. 6 Kentucky and recorded a career-best six rebounds.  She added a career-high seven points one game later against Florida.
- Sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.2 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 freshman Danielle McCray (4.0 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 70-77 overall and 23-48 in SEC play.

PROMOTIONS
Every home game: Chevron $50 gas card giveaway
Drills and Skills Hoop package for kids
Renaissance Bank Cash Cube
They are all “Enter to Win” and you must be present to participate.

“Tickled Pink at the Tad Pad”
Fans that wear pink to Thursday’s game can win a prize from Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi. The Ole Miss Rifle Team will shoot pink T-shirts from cannons to fans and fans can participate in a silent auction during the game with all proceeds staying in Lafayette County.

REBELS HOST CRIMSON TIDE
Ole Miss will try to get back on the winning track when the team hosts Alabama Thursday at 7 p.m. Ole Miss (12-12 overall, 2-9 SEC) is 8-6 at home this season and 4-6 on the road.  With five 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 12-12 overall this season and 2-9 in SEC play after falling on the road at Florida, 84-55, Sunday afternoon.  The Rebels are led by Nikki Byrd (13.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg) and Valencia McFarland (13.2 ppg, 5.0 apg).  Freshman Danielle McCray is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 4.0 rebounds per game. Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm.  

OLE MISS VS. ALABAMA
Ole Miss leads the all-time series with Alabama, 33-18.  The Rebels posted a 69-55 win over the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa on January 15, 2012.  Ole Miss has won two of the last three meetings between the two schools including winning the last meeting in Oxford, a 70-56 win on January 6, 2010.  In games played in Oxford, the Rebels lead the all-time series, 16-6.  Alabama’s last win over Ole Miss in Oxford was in 2003.   
 
A LOOK AT ALABAMA
Alabama enters Thursday’s game 10-14 overall and 0-10 in SEC play.  Last week, the Crimson Tide fell at Arkansas and at home to No. 20 Georgia.  For the season, Jasmine Robinson leads the team in scoring, averaging 11.3 points per game while Meghan Perkins is second, averaging 9.5.  Erin Hogue leads the team in rebounding averaging 6.0 rebounds per game.  As a team Alabama averages 61.4 points per game while holding its opponents to 64.4 points per game.                

NEWS AND NOTES
Ole Miss has been at .500 twice this season (1-1, 12-12) but has not been below .500 in overall games this season ... 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 then responded one game later with its lowest amount of turnovers in six games (13) at Florida ... 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 an 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 CAREER HIGH
One game after recording her first career start and a career-high six boards at No. 6 Kentucky, freshman Monique Jackson recorded a career-high seven points one game later at Florida.  Jackson ended the Florida game with seven points and five rebounds.

BYRD RANKED SEVENTH IN THE NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In the latest NCAA stats released February 6,   senior forward Nikki Byrd is seventh in the nation in double-doubles with 12.  She is also 37th in the nation in rebounding, averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.  The NCAA stats will be released again on Friday, February, 10.  Byrd has been ranked as high as fourth in the nation in both rebounding and double-doubles this season.  

MCFARLAND CLOSE TO SETTING A CAREER HIGH FOR ASSISTS IN A SEASON
Sophomore Valencia McFarland, who has led or been tied for the team lead in assists in 22 games this season, has 121 assists in 24 games for an average of 5.0 assists per game.  She needs three more assists to set a career-high in assists in a season.  As a freshman last year, she finished the season with 123 assists.  She has recorded at least five assists in 23 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.  

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 4.4 points per game and 2.7 rebounds per game this season, in the team’s last seven games Faleru is averaging 8.3 points per game and 5.9 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 48.6 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.