Feb. 10, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

Ole Miss (12-13, 2-10 SEC) at Mississippi State (13-11, 3-8 SEC)
Date: February 12, 2012
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
Location: Starkville, Miss.
Arena: Humphery Coliseum
Radio: 105.5 & Q93.7(Graham Doty)
Online: Live Stats/ESPN3
Television: FSN
Dave Neal & Van Chancellor
Series vs. MSU: UM leads, 61-21

QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss fell to 12-13 overall (2-10 SEC) this season after falling at home to Alabama, 52-47, Thursday night.                   
- Ole Miss will play three of its final four regular-season games on the road.
- Freshman Danielle McCray tied her career high with eight rebounds against Alabama.
- The four freshmen that saw time against Alabama combined for 27 of the team’s 47 points and 22 of the team’s 40 rebounds.   
- Sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.2 ppg) and senior Nikki Byrd (12.6 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 (9.1 rpg) and freshman Danielle McCray (4.2 rpg) lead the team in rebounding.
- Ole Miss has scored fewer than 50 points in six 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 70-78 overall and 23-49 in SEC play.

REBELS TRAVEL TO STATE
Ole Miss will try to get back on the winning track when the team travels to intrastate rival Mississippi State Sunday for a 2:30 p.m. game. The game will be televised by FSN and online at ESPN3 (subject to blackout in states with and SEC school.)  Ole Miss (12-13 overall, 2-10 SEC) is 8-7 at home this season and 4-6 on the road.  With four 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 12-13 overall this season and 2-10 in SEC play after falling at home to Alabama, 52-47, Thursday night.  The Rebels are led by Valencia McFarland (13.2 ppg, 5.0 apg) and Nikki Byrd (12.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg).  Freshman Danielle McCray is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 4.2 rebounds per game. Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm.  

OLE MISS VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Ole Miss leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 61-21. The Lady Bulldogs posted a 51-46 win over the Rebels in Oxford on January 19, 2011.  Mississippi State has won the last four meetings between the two schools and six of the last seven.  Ole Miss leads 25-11 all-time in games played in Starkville.  The Rebels’ last win over the Lady Bulldogs was a 66-58 win in Oxford in 2010 and Ole Miss’ last win over Mississippi State in Starkville was a 86-84 (OT) win in 2007.  
 
A LOOK AT MISSISSIPPI STATE
Mississippi State enters Sunday’s game 13-11 overall and 3-8 in SEC play.  The Lady Bulldogs fell at LSU Thursday night, 53-49.  Mississippi State is led by Diamber Johnson (16.3 points per game) and Prosha Porter (13.0 points per game).  Martha Alwal leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.6 rebounds per game.  As a team, the Lady Bulldogs average 59.2 points per game while its opponents average 59.1 points per game.               

OLE MISS - MISSISSIPPI STATE CONNECTIONS
Current Ole Miss associate coach Jocelyn McGilberry served as an assistant coach at Mississippi State from 1995-03.

NEWS AND NOTES
Ole Miss dropped to below .500 for the first time this season (12-13) ... 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 ... Eight 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, Auburn and Alabama) ... Ten 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 ... One opposing team this season has shot over 50 percent from the floor against Ole Miss (LSU, 55.2%) ... 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.

MCFARLAND SETS A CAREER HIGH FOR ASSISTS IN A SEASON
Sophomore Valencia McFarland, who has led or been tied for the team lead in assists in 23 games this season, has 124 assists in 25 games for an average of 5.0 assists per game.  She recorded three assists against Alabama to give herself a career-high for 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.

REBELS IN THE SECOND HALF
In Ole Miss’ SEC games against Georgia, South Carolina and versus Alabama, the Rebels were outscored by an average of 21 points per game in the first half but outscored their opponents by an average of 8.6 points in the second half.  For the season, Ole Miss has been outscored 780-709 in the first half but have outscored its opponents 762-754 in the second half.

FRESHMEN IMPACT AGAINST ALABAMA
In Ole Miss’ February 9 game against Alabama, four Rebel freshmen combined for 27 of the team’s 47 points and 22 of the team’s 40 rebounds.  Amber Singletary scored 10 points and added one rebound while Tia Faleru recorded nine points and eight rebounds.  Danielle McCray scored six points with eight rebounds while Monique Jackson added two points and five 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.

OLE MISS IN THE SEC STATS
As of February 9, Ole Miss is third in rebounding offense (41.5) and seventh in assists (12.8 apg).  Individually, Valencia McFarland is sixth in scoring (13.2 ppg) and Nikki Byrd is 10th (12.6 ppg).  Byrd is second in rebounding (9.1 rpg) and seventh in field goal percentage (53.4). McFarland is first in minutes played (36.7 mpg), third in assists (5.0 apg), fifth in steals (2.3 spg) and fourth in assist to turnover ratio (1.7).

BYRD RANKED EIGHTH IN THE NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In the latest NCAA stats released February 10,   senior forward Nikki Byrd is eighth in the nation in double-doubles with 12.  She is also 54th in the nation in rebounding, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game.  The NCAA stats will be released again on Monday, February, 13.  Byrd has been ranked as high as fourth in the nation in both rebounding and double-doubles 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 4.6 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game this season, in the team’s last eight games, Faleru is averaging 8.4 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game.
 
OFFENSIVE WOES
Ole Miss’ game at versus Alabama on February 9 marked the sixth 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 and against Alabama, 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 51.2 points per game in its losses.