Dec. 19, 2012

Ole Miss Game Notes

NEW YORK LIFE HOLIDAY INVITATIONAL
Dec. 21-22
Hempstead, NY (Hofstra)

OLE MISS REBELS (6-3, 0-0 SEC)
Acting head coach: Brett Frank (SOSU, 1995)
Career record: 6-3 (1 yr.) Record at Ole Miss: Same

HOFSTRA PRIDE (1-7, 0-0 CAA)
Head coach: Krista Kilburn-Steveskey (NC State, 1990)
Career record: 106-92 (7th yr.) Record at Hofstra: Same

Date/Time: Fri., Dec. 21/ 6 p.m. CT
Site: Hempstead, NY |Mack Sports Complex (5,023)
TV: None
Radio: Q93.7/105.5FM
    Talent: Graham Doty (play-by-play)
Streaming Video: OleMissSports.com
Gametracker: OleMissSports.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissWBB
Series:
    Overall: First Meeting    
    Oxford: N/A
    Cleveland: N/A
    Neutral: N/A
    Last meeting: First Meeting  
    Frank vs. Hofstra: 0-0

UP NEXT:
Ole Miss will continue play in the New York Life Holiday Invitational with a game against Northwestern on Dec. 22 at 2 p.m. CT.

NOTES:
• Ole Miss opened its six-game road trip at Cleveland State Tuesday night, falling to the Vikings, 67-55.
• Friday’s game marks the first meeting between Ole Miss and Hofstra.
• In the team’s last game at Cleveland State, Tia Faleru led the team in scoring for the third straight game with 14 points while Gracie Frizzell added 11 points.
• Courtney Marbra recorded a career-high 15 rebounds against Cleveland State, the most by an Ole Miss player since Nov. 26, 2011.
• Diara Moore leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per game, followed by McFarland (10.3 points per game) and Tia Faleru (10.0 points per game).
• Courtney Marbra leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.7 rebounds per game. Danielle McCray is second, averaging 5.9 rpg.   
• Junior point guard Valencia McFarland has recorded 869 career points and is looking to become the 25th player in school history to score at least 1,000 career points.

SCOUTING HOFSTRA
Hofstra is 1-7 this season and is coming off a 68-58 loss at Auburn in its last game on Dec. 9. The Pride is led by Shante Evans who is averaging 15.5 points per game and a 10.1 rebounds per game. Teammate Annie Payton is second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.9 points per game.  Friday’s game against Ole Miss marks Hofstra’s third home game of the year.

This marks the first meeting between Ole Miss and Hofstra.

ABOUT OLE MISS
Coming off a 67-55 loss on the road at Cleveland State on Tuesday, the Ole Miss women’s basketball team will continue its six-game road trip Friday taking on Hofstra in the New York Holiday Invitational at 6 p.m.  The Rebels are led by newcomer Diara Moore, who is averaging 12.1 points per game,  Valencia McFarland (10.3 points per game) and Tia Faleru (10.0 points per game).  Courtney Marbra  leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.7 rebounds per game followed by Danielle McCray who is averaging 5.9 rebounds per game.  Brett Frank is in his first year as acting head coach for the Rebels. He has a career record of 6-3.

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 12/18/12)
As a team, Ole Miss is fifth in free throw percentage (.699), fourth in rebounding offense (43.4 rpg), ,fifth in rebounding margin (+6.0), fourth in offensive rebounds (18.1), and fifth in steals (12.0 spg).  Individually, Courtney Marbra is 12th in rebounding (6.7 rpg), Valencia McFarland is 10th in assists (3.7 apg), fifth in assist to turnover ratio (2.4) and fourth in steals (2.9 spg).  Tia Faleru is 11th for seventh in free throw percentage (.750) and Diara Moore is seventh in free throw percentage (.773).

MARBRA RECORDS CAREER HIGH IN REBOUNDS
Senior Courtney Marbra recorded a career-high 15 rebounds in Ole Miss’ 67-55 loss at Cleveland State on Dec. 18. The 15 rebounds are the most by an Ole Miss player since Nikki Byrd recorded 17 on Nov. 26, 2011. Marbra’s previous career high was 12 which she recorded at Hawai`i on Nov. 27, 2010.
FALERU BREAKING OUT
Over the last three games, Tia Faleru has scored in double figures in all three games and led the team in scoring in each game.  She scored a career-high 17 points in a win over UMass, added a team-best 13 in a win over Belmont and a team-high 14 at Cleveland State. In the last three games, she is averaging 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.6 steals per game. This season, she is averaging 10.0 points per game.

REBELS CRASHING THE BOARDS
Ole Miss has outrebounded or been tied with its opponent in eight of the team’s nine game this season. Most recently, Ole Miss held a 46-41 advantage at Cleveland State, including 27 offensive boards.  Individually Courtney Marbra recorded a career-high 15.  

In Ole Miss’ 63-48 win over Belmont on Dec. 16, Ole Miss recorded a 47-31 advantage on the boards. Diara Moore led the team with nine boards while Courtney Marbra added seven and Valencia McFarland recorded six.

For the season, Ole Miss has a +6.0 rebounding advantage of its opponents and the Rebels have recorded seven games with 40 or more rebounds. Ole Miss has only been outrebounded in on game this season.

REBELS HOT FROM THE FREE THROW LINE
Through nine games this season, Ole Miss is shooting 70 percent from the free throw line while three players (with at least 20 attempts) are shooting at least 70 percent from the line.  In three games this year, Ole Miss has made at least 20 free throws per game. Ole Miss went 20-27 from the line in a win over Belmont on Dec. 16.  The Rebels went 23-41 in a win over SELA and went 23-27 from the line in a win over MVSU.  Ole Miss players have made at least five free throws in a game on eight occasions.  Diara Moore has made nine, eight and seven, Danielle McCray has made seven, Valencia McFarland has made six twice and Tia Faleru has made five two times.  

MOORE LEADING THE TEAM IN DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING GAMES
Through nine games this season, Diara Moore leads the team in double-figure scoring games with seven. Valencia McFarland is second with six, followed by Tia Faleru with four.