Feb. 17, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

Ole Miss (12-14, 2-11 SEC) vs. No. 10 Tennessee (19-7, 10-3 SEC)
Date: February 19, 2012
Time: 1:05 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: Tad Smith Coliseum
Radio: 105.5 (Graham Doty)
Online: Gametracker/Live Blog/ESPN3
Television: SEC Network
Cara Capuano & Abby Waner
Series vs. Tennessee: UT leads, 39-7

QUICK HITS
- Seniors Nikki Byrd, Whitney Hameth and LaTosha Laws will be honored in a pre-game ceremony at 12:45 p.m. Sunday.
- Ole Miss fell to 12-14 overall (2-11 SEC) this season after falling on the road at Mississippi State, 53-50 (OT), Sunday afternoon.                    
- Ole Miss will play two of its final three regular-season games on the road.
- Freshmen Danielle McCray and Tia Faleru each recorded career highs in rebounding at MSU each recording 12.  Fellow freshman Mo Jackson also recorded a career-high in rebounding, grabbing eight boards.
- Sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.3 ppg) and senior Nikki Byrd (12.1 ppg) lead Ole Miss in scoring.
- Byrd (9.0 rpg) and McCray (4.5 rpg) lead the team in rebounding.
- 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.
- Ole Miss has scored 50 points or fewer in seven SEC games this season including three of its last four games.  
- Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm. She has a career record of 70-79 overall and 23-50 in SEC play.

REBELS HOSTS LADY VOLS ON SENIOR DAY
Ole Miss will try to get back on the winning track when the team hosts No. 10 Tennessee Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.  The game will be televised by the SEC Network and will be streamed online at ESPN3.  Ole Miss (12-14 overall, 2-11 SEC) is 8-7 at home this season and 4-7 on the road.  With three 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 12-14 overall this season and 2-11 in SEC play after falling on the road to Mississippi State, 53-50 in overtime, Sunday afternoon.  The Rebels are led by Valencia McFarland (13.3 ppg, 4.9 apg) and Nikki Byrd (12.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg).  Freshman Danielle McCray is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 4.5 rebounds per game. Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm.  

OLE MISS VS. TENNESSEE
Tennessee leads the all-time series, 39-7.  In games played in Oxford, Tennessee leads 16-3.  Ole Miss’ last win over the Lady Vols was a 78-72 win in Oxford on February 4, 1996.  Tennessee won the last meeting between the two schools, a 66-39 in in Oxford in February 24, 2011.    
 
A LOOK AT TENNESSEE
Tennessee enters Sunday’s game 19-7 overall and 10-3 in SEC play.  The Lady Vols are coming off a 57-41 win at Mississippi State on Thursday.  Tennessee is led by Shekinna Stricklen who averages 15.3 points per game and Glory Johnson who averages 15.3 points per game and a team-high 9.4 rebounds per contest.  As a team, the Lady Vols average 75.5 points per game while holding its opponents to 59.9 points per game.  Tennessee is ranked 13th in this week’s AP poll and 10th in this week’s coaches poll.                  

NEWS AND NOTES
Freshman Tia Faleru played a career-high 45 minutes in Ole Miss’ overtime loss to Mississippi State ... 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 ... Nine 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, Alabama, at Mississippi State) ... Eleven 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.

REBELS GET ON THE GLASS AT STATE
In Ole Miss’ 53-50 overtime loss to Mississippi State on February 12, the Rebels grabbed 62 rebounds.  The 62 boards were the most by an Ole Miss team since November 17, 2006 when the Rebels grabbed 62 in a game at Rice.  Two players, Tia Faleru and Danielle McCray recorded 12 rebounds each.

MCCRAY, FALERU RECORD CAREER HIGHS IN REBOUNDING
Freshmen Danielle McCray and Tia Faleru each recorded a career-high 12 rebounds in the Rebels’ loss at Mississippi State on February 12. McCray’s previous career high was eight while Faleru’s previous career high was 10.

UNDERCLASSMEN GET THE START
Ole Miss’ starting five against Mississippi State consisted of all underclassmen, one sophomore and four freshmen.  Prior to the MSU game, the last time Ole Miss used a starting lineup with at least four underclassmen was against No. 6 Tennessee in Oxford on February 24, 2011 when the team started one junior, two sophomores and two freshmen.

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 24 games this season, has 127 assists in 26 games for an average of 4.9 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 803-733 in the first half but have outscored its opponents 781-774 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
The more she plays, the more stats Mo Jackson is able to put on the board.  After making her first career start at Kentucky, Jackson has continually posted new career highs.  She recorded career highs on both points and rebounds at Mississippi State recording eight points and eight rebounds.   After being used sparingly throughout the season, in the last four games, Jackson is averaging 5.3 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game.

OLE MISS IN THE SEC STATS
As of February 16, Ole Miss is second in rebounding offense (42.3) and eighth in assists (12.7 apg).  Individually, Valencia McFarland is tied for sixth in scoring (13.3 ppg) and Nikki Byrd is 12th (12.1 ppg).  Byrd is third in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and seventh in field goal percentage (53.0).  McFarland is first in minutes played (37.0 mpg), third in assists (4.9 apg), fifth in steals (2.2 spg), fourth in assist to turnover ratio (1.6) and eighth in free throw percentage (71.3).

BYRD RANKED 13TH IN THE NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In the latest NCAA stats released February 17, senior forward Nikki Byrd is 13th in the nation in double-doubles with 12.  She is also 61st in the nation in rebounding, averaging 9.0 rebounds per game.  The NCAA stats will be released again on Monday, February, 20.  Byrd has been ranked as high as fourth in the nation in both rebounding and double-doubles this season.