Dec. 27, 2012

Game Notes

TULANE DOUBLETREE CLASSIC

OLE MISS REBELS (6-5, 0-0 SEC)
Acting head coach: Brett Frank (SOSU, 1995)
Career record: 6-5 (1 yr.) Record at Ole Miss: Same

McNEESE STATE COWGIRLS (4-5, 0-0 Southland)
Head coach: Brooks Donald-Williams (Mississippi St., 2000)
Career record: 87-78 (6th yr.) Record at McNeese St.: Same

Date/Time: Sat., Dec. 29/ 3 p.m. CT
Site: New Orleans, La. |Devlin Fieldhouse (3,600)
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: UM, 5-0    
    Oxford: UM, 4-0
    Lake Charles: N/A
    Neutral: UM, 1-0
    Last meeting: First Meeting  
    Frank vs. McNeese State: 0-0

UP NEXT:
Ole Miss will continue play in the Tulane DoubleTree Classic against either host Tulane or Eastern Michigan on Sunday with a time TBD.

NOTES:
• Ole Miss opened its six-game road trip with three games last week. In its most recent game, Ole Miss fell to Northwestern, 73-69, at the New York Life Holiday Invitational.
• Saturday’s game marks the sixth meeting between Ole Miss and McNeese State, the Rebels are 5-0 all-time against the Cowgirls.
• In the team’s last game at Northwestern, Amber Singletary led Ole Miss with a career-high 18 points while Gracie Frizzell added 16 and Valencia McFarland scored 12.
• Ole Miss recorded a season-high 10 threes against Northwestern.  Amber Singletary made a team-high four while Gracie Frizzell added three.
• 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 with 12.1 points per game followed by Valencia McFarland who is averaging 10.2 points per game.
• Courtney Marbra leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. Danielle McCray is second, averaging 5.5 rpg.   
• Junior point guard Valencia McFarland has recorded 888 career points and is looking to become the 25th player in school history to score at least 1,000 career points.

SCOUTING McNEESE STATE
McNeese State is 4-5 this season and is coming off a 82-75 loss at LSU on December 21. The Cowgirls are led by Ashlyn Baggett who averages a team-best 15.8 points per game and Caitlyn Baggett who is averaging 15.3 points per game.  Arianna James leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.8 rebounds per game. As a team, McNeese State holds a +6.7 scoring margin over its opponents and the Cowgirls have scored at least 70 points in five games.

Saturday’s meeting between the two schools will be the sixth in school history.  Ole Miss leads the all-time series 5-0 and is 1-0 all-time against McNeese State in neutral site meetings.

ABOUT OLE MISS
Coming off a 73-69 loss to Northwestern in the New York Life Holiday Invitational Saturday, the Ole Miss women’s basketball team will continue its six-game road trip Saturday taking on McNeese State in the Tulane DoubleTree Classic at 3 p.m.  The Rebels are led by newcomer Diara Moore, who is averaging 12.1 points per game, Valencia McFarland (10.2 points per game) and Tia Faleru (9.3 points per game).  Courtney Marbra leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.9 rebounds per game followed by Danielle McCray who is averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.  Brett Frank is in his first year as acting head coach for the Rebels. He has a career record of 6-5.

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 12/22/12)
As a team, Ole Miss is fifth in free throw percentage (.691), fourth in rebounding offense (43.3 rpg), 10th in rebounding margin (+4.7), third in offensive rebounds (18.4), and fifth in steals (11.7 spg).  Individually, Courtney Marbra is 12th in rebounding (6.9 rpg), Valencia McFarland is sixth in assists (4.4 apg), fifth in assist to turnover ratio (2.4) and sixth in steals (2.7 spg).  Gracie Frizzell is ninth in three pointers made (1.5) and Diara Moore is seventh in free throw percentage (.773).

REBELS RECORD SEASON-HIGH FROM THREE-POINT RANGE
Ole Miss recorded a season-high 10 three pointers against Northwestern on December 22. Amber Singletary recorded a team-high four while Gracie Frizzell added three. The 10 threes marks the most threes by an Ole Miss team since the 2009-10 season with the team recorded 10 against South Carolina on March 4, 2010.

McFARLAND DISHING OUT ASSISTS
Valencia McFarland is sixth in the SEC in assists per game, averaging 4.4.  She leads Ole Miss with 48 assists. In the last three games, McFarland is averaging 6.3 assists per game.  She has recorded 30 career games with at least five assists per game.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Junior point guard Valencia McFarland has recorded 888 career points.  She is aiming to become the 25th player in school history to record at least 1,000 career points. If she accomplishes the feat this season as a junior, she would be the 14th player in school history to hit 1,000 career points as a junior.

McFarland also has another program milestone to keep her eye on during her career, as she aims to become just the third person in Ole Miss history to score at least 1,000 point, 500 assists and 250 steals. McFarland currently has 888 points, 313 assists and 134 steals. She’s looking to join Carol Ross (1977-81) and Glenda Springfield (1975-79).

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
In three games from December 8-18, Tia Faleru 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 9.3 points per game.

REBELS CRASHING THE BOARDS
Ole Miss has outrebounded or been tied with its opponent in nine of the team’s 11 game this season. Most recently, Ole Miss held a 40-38 advantage against Northwestern at the New York Life Holiday Invitational.  Individually four players recorded at least five rebounds in the game.  

Ole Miss has recorded 50-plus rebounds on two occasions this year, recording 53 in wins over Lipscomb and Mississippi Valley State.

For the season, Ole Miss has a +4.7 rebounding advantage of its opponents and the Rebels have recorded nine games with 40 or more rebounds. Ole Miss has only been outrebounded in two games this season.