March 4, 2013

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss men’s basketball players Marshall Henderson and Murphy Holloway have been named finalists for the C Spire Howell Trophy, while women’s basketball player Valencia McFarland has been named a finalist for the C Spire Gillom Trophy, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame announced today.

The awards are presented annually to the best male and female basketball players in the state of Mississippi. Finalists are selected by a statewide panel of media voters.  This is the second time in her career that McFarland has been named a finalist and the first selection each for Henderson and Holloway.

Henderson leads the SEC in scoring at 19.8 ppg and ranks second the in nation averaging 3.93 3-pointers per game. This season, Henderson broke Ole Miss single-season record with 114 3-pointers, which is tied for sixth in SEC history. He has scored double-digit points in all but one game this season and had tallied 12 20-point games and two 30-point games. Henderson tied the Ole Miss single-game record with eight 3-pointers in a game vs. Auburn and scored a career-high 32 points in a win at Tennessee.

Holloway is just the 23rd player in SEC history to score at least 1,250 points and pull down 1,000 boards in their career, a list that includes Shaquille O'Neal, Dan Issell, Bob Pettit and Bernand King. Ole Miss’ all-time leading rebounder, Holloway is the only player in school history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and is the SEC’s active leader with 37 double-doubles. He ranks eighth in the league in scoring this season averaging 14.8 ppg and leads the conference in rebounding at 9.8 rpg.

This season, McFarland ended the year tied for first on the team in scoring, 11.4 points per game, and led the team; and was in the top five in the SEC in assists (155), steals (71) and minutes played (34.4 minutes per game).  She was one of just two players to start all 29 games for the Rebels.  McFarland ended the year tied for the team lead in double-figure scoring games (17) and led the team with two 20-point games.  She scored her 1,000^th career point this year and is the 14^th player in school history to do so as a junior and 25^th player overall.

The winner will be announced at an 11:30 a.m. luncheon on Monday, March 11 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson. Tickets are $35 per person and include a buffet-style lunch. Native Mississippian and former Ole Miss women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor will serve as master of ceremonies.

All proceeds benefit the private, non-profit Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. For ticket information, contact the Museum at 1-800-280-FAME (3263).