March 1, 2013

Ole Miss Game Notes

OLE MISS REBELS (9-19, 2-13 SEC)
Acting head coach: Brett Frank (SOSU, 1995)
Career record: 9-19 (1st yr.) Record at Ole Miss: Same

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (17-11, 5-10 SEC)
Head coach: Tom Collen (Bowling Green State, 1977)
Career record: 327-147 (15th yr.) Record at Arkansas: 137-61 (6th yr.)

Date/Time: Sunday, March 3/ 2 p.m. CT
Site: Fayetteville, Ark. | Bud Walton Arena | (19,200)
Radio: 105.5 FM
  Talent: Graham Doty (play-by-play)
Streaming Video: ArkansasRazorbacks.com
Gametracker: OleMissSports.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissWBB
Series:
    Overall: UM, 23-12    
      Oxford: UM, 13-3    
    Fayetteville: UA, 8-5
       Neutral: UM, 4-2    
       Last meeting: UA, 77-66, @Oxford, 1/31/13
       Frank vs. Arkansas: 0-1

NOTES:
• Ole Miss will play its final game of the 2102-13 season Sunday afternoon with a 2 p.m. game at Arkansas.
• Sunday’s game marks the 36th all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Arkansas. The Rebels lead the all-time series, 23-12.  
• Ole Miss is coming off a 90-65 loss to No. 10 Kentucky Thursday night. It marked the team’s fifth game against a ranked team in its last six games.  
• Tia Faleru recorded her fourth double-double of the year, and fifth of her career, with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds against No. 10 Kentucky. She is Ole Miss’ active career leader in double-doubles.
• Twice in the last five games, Valencia McFarland has neared a triple-double. She recorded nine points, nine assists and seven steals against No. 12 Georgia and she recorded 19 points, eight assists and eight rebounds versus Mississippi State.
• Tia Faleru and Diara Moore have each scored in double figures a team-leading 17 times this season. Valencia McFarland has scored in double figures 16 times this season.
• Tia Faleru leads the team in scoring, averaging 11.7 points per game, followed by Valencia McFarland, 11.3 points per game Diara Moore, 10.4 points per game.
• Courtney Marbra leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.3 rebounds per game while Tia Faleru and Danielle McCray are tied for second with 5.1 rebounds per game each.
• Valencia McFarland, who has scored in every career game she has played in, recorded her 1,000th career point with 24 points at Florida.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS
Arkansas is 17-11 overall and 5-10 in SEC play. The Razorbacks are led by Sarah Watkins (12.6 points per game) and Quistelle Williams who is second on the team in scoring, 10.1 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 7.2 rebounds per game. Seven of Arkansas’ 11 losses have been to ranked teams.

Ole Miss leads the all-time series between the two schools, 23-12. Arkansas has won the last four meetings between the two schools including a 77-66 win in Oxford this year on Jan. 30.  Ole Miss’ last win over the Razorbacks was in Fayetteville with the Rebels posting a 69-65 win over the then No. 23 Razorbacks.

ABOUT OLE MISS
Ole Miss is coming off a 90-65 loss to No. 10 Kentucky Thursday night. Tia Faleru led Ole Miss with her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.  Danielle McCray added 12 points for Ole Miss. For the year, Ole Miss is led by Tia Faleru (11.7 points per game), Valencia McFarland (11.3 points per game) and Diara Moore (10.4 points per game). Courtney Marbra leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.3 rebounds per game followed by Danielle McCray and Tia Faleru who are each averaging 5.1 rebounds per game.  Brett Frank is in his first year as acting head coach for the Rebels. He has a career record of 9-19 overall and 2-13 in the SEC.

FOLLOW THE REBELS
Ole Miss’ regular-season games can be heard on WTNM Supertalk Mississippi (105.5 FM) or Q93.7 FM with the pregame show starting 15 minutes before tipoff.  Graham Doty, in his second season calling Ole Miss women’s basketball games, will be on the call.

Game updates via Twitter will be available all season at @OleMissWBB. All home games that are not on TV will be streamed online through the subscription-based RebelVision.

OLE MISS IN THE SEC STATS (AS OF 2/28/13)
As a team, Ole Miss is fourth in free throw percentage (.703), fifth in rebounding offense (40.4 rpg), third in offensive rebounds (16.5), eighth in steals (9.1 spg) and sixth pointers made (4.9). Individually, Valencia McFarland is fourth in assists (5.4 apg), second in assist to turnover ratio (2.5), third in minutes played (34.5), 10th in free throw percentage (.747) and sixth in steals (2.5 spg). Gracie Frizzell is 10th in three pointers made (1.7) and Diara Moore is tied for eighth in free throw percentage (.750).  

McFARLAND FOURTH PLAYER TO LEAD TEAM IN ASSISTS THREE YEARS IN A ROW
Valencia McFarland, who will end the season leading the team in assists, becomes just the fourth player in school history, and the first since Carletta Brown (2003-06), to lead the team in assists three years in a row.  No player in school history has led the team in assists all four years. McFarland has recorded 415 career assists and needs 41 assists to crack into the career top-five.

As of Feb. 28, McFarland is fourth in the SEC in assists per game, averaging 5.4 and she leads Ole Miss with 150 assists. In a 12-game span from Dec. 21-Jan. 31, McFarland averaged 6.58 assists per game.  She has recorded 42 career games with at least five assists per game, including 18 games this year.  McFarland recorded a season-high 10 assists at Florida on Jan. 24.  

FALERU RECORDS FIFTH CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Tia Faleru, Ole Miss’ active career leader in double-doubles, recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds against No. 10 Kentucky on Feb. 28.  Her third double-double of the year came in win over MSU on Feb. 14 with 11 points and 11 rebounds.  She recorded 18 points and added 10 rebounds at LSU on Jan. 3 and also scored 15 points and added 10 rebounds against McNeese State on Dec. 29.

Valencia McFarland recorded her second career double-double, and first of the year, with a season-high 24 points and 10 assists at Florida on Jan. 24. Both of McFarland’s double-doubles are with points and assists.

Danielle McCray recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in a win over MVSU while Kenyotta Jenkins recorded her second career double-double against SELA on Nov. 9 when she scored a career-high 13 points and added 10 rebounds.  Valencia McFarland is the only current player to record a double-double in something other than points and rebounds (points and assists.)

Active Players With Double-Doubles
                                      Season    Career
Tia Faleru                        4            5
Valencia McFarland         1             2
Kenyotta Jenkins            1             2
Danielle McCray              1             1
Courtney Marbra             0              2

McFARLAND FIRST PLAYER TO LEAD TEAM IN STEALS THREE YEARS IN A ROW SINCE Armintie Price
Valencia McFarland, who has recorded a team-leading 69 steals this year, is just the third player in school history to lead her team in assists three years times during her career.  McFarland, who has led the team in steals as a freshman, sophomore and junior, is the first player to lead her team in steals three years in a row since Armintie Price led the team all four years (2003-06).

McFARLAND SECOND IN THE SEC IN ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO
Ole Miss point guard Valencia McFarland is second in the SEC in assist to turnover ratio (2.5). In SEC play, McFarland has recorded 89 assists to 39 turnovers and for the season, she has recorded 150 assists to 61 turnovers in 28 games. McFarland has recorded 18 games this season with five or more assists including the 14 of the last 18 games. For her career, McFarland has 42 games with five or more assists and has recorded 415 career assists.

MOORE, FALERU LEAD TEAM IN DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING GAMES
Through 28 games this season, Diara Moore and Tia Faleru are leading the team in double-figure scoring games with 17 each followed by Valencia McFarland who has recorded 16 double-figure scoring games. Gracie Frizzell has scored in double figures in seven games.

McFARLAND IN THE NCAA STATS
In the latest set of NCAA stats released on Friday, March 1, Valencia McFarland is ranked eighth in assist to turnover ratio (2.46), and is 35th the nation in assists per game (5.4).  NCAA stats are released every Monday and Friday.