The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Basketball Kicks Off Four-Game Homestand
6/21/1999 | Women's Basketball
December 1, 1998
OLE MISS BEGINS FOUR GAME HOMESTAND: The Lady Rebels (4-1) begin a four-game homestand Wednesday versus the University of Oklahoma at 4:45 p.m., in Tad Smith Coliseum. Oklahoma comes into the game with a 3-1 record. The Sooners lost to UAB in the first round of the Cancun Tournament and then defeated Coppin State in the consolation game.
PROBABLE STARTERS
1998-99 StatsNo. Player Ht Yr Pos PPG RPG APG25 Becky Myatt 5-8 So G 9.2 2.4 2.8 3 Takela Corbitt 5-3 Fr G 6.2 0.8 3.854 Frankie Boyd 6-4 Jr C 12.2 6.2 0.0 40 Lesli Vollrath 6-3 Sr F 4.6 4.4 1.235 Tarsha Bethley 5-11 Sr F 19.0 7.8 4.0
OFF THE BENCH
1998-99 StatsNo. Player Ht Yr Pos PPG RPG APG24 Chandra Dorsey 5-3 So G 3.6 0.8 1.023 Stephanie Murphy 5-11 So F/G 4.2 2.2 1.033 Jennie Gadd 6-4 Sr C 5.0 3.2 0.013 Heather Bantz 6-0 So G/F 3.4 1.2 0.414 Sinissia Wysinger 6-1 Jr F 4.0 5.2 0.421 TaShondrea Moton 5-10 Fr G 3.8 3.0 0.832 Julianne Signaigo 6-3 So F 0.3 0.7 0.052 Tanya Bolden 6-0 Jr C 0.0 0.3 0.2
OLE MISS GAMES CAN BE HEARD ON WQLJ: All Ole Miss Lady Rebel games -- home and away -- can be heard on the radio on WQLJ 93.7 FM, with each broadcast beginning 15 minutes prior to tip-off. Gary Darby returns for his seventh season as the Voice of the Lady Rebels. The broadcast is also available on the internet at www.WQLJ.com.
WHAT A COMEBACK: The Lady Rebels, led by senior forward Tarsha Bethley, rallied from a 12-point deficit to defeat the University of Maine 77-72 in overtime for the Dead River Company Classic title this past weekend. Please see a recap of the tournament on page 4.
SERIES MEETING: This will be the second meeting between Oklahoma and Ole Miss. Oklahoma won the first meeting last year in Norman, Okla., 89-85. Please see a recap of that game on page 5.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma enters the game with a 3-1 record. They went 1-1 at the Cancun Tournament, losing to UAB 62-61 and then defeating Coppin State 103-74. They also have wins over TCU and Texas-San Antonio. The Sooners are led by Phylesha Whaley, who is averaging 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Desiree Taylor is second on the team with 13.0 points per game. The Sooners are outscoring their opponents by an average of 20 points a game. Oklahoma is shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 67.6 percent from the free throw line.
OLE MISS VERSUS THE BIG 12: The Lady Rebels have a 9-6 record (.600 winning percentage) versus teams from the Big 12 Conference. The following is a list of the Big 12 schools Ole Miss has faced and their record against those schools.
Team RecordBaylor 1-0Kansas 1-0 Kansas State 1-0Missouri 1-0Oklahoma 0-1Oklahoma State 2-0Texas 1-4Texas A&M 1-1Texas Tech 1-0Total 9-6(.600 Winning Percentage)
COMMON OPPONENTS: Ole Miss and Oklahoma have one common opponent on their schedules. Oklahoma lost to UAB in the first round of the Cancun Tournament. Ole Miss will host UAB on Dec. 16.
HOME SWEET HOME: Ole Miss has always been a tough opponent in Tad Smith Coliseum. In their 24-year history, the Lady Rebels have an impressive 260-46 record (.850 winning percentage) at home. The Lady Rebels have gone undefeated at home four times. This year the Lady Rebels are 1-1 at home.
LADY REBELS CAPTURE 33RD REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENT TITLE: The Lady Rebels captured their 33rd regular season tournament title this past weekend when they won the Dead River Company Classic. In their 24-year history, the Lady Rebels are 97-24 (.802 winning percentage) in regular season tournaments.
BETHLEY NAMED MVP OF TOURNAMENT: Senior forward Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) was named the Most Valuable Player of the Dead River Company Classic. Bethley averaged 23.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the tournament. She scored 22 of her 25 points in the title game, in the final four minutes and in overtime. Frankie Boyd (Ethel, Miss.) was also named to the All-Tournament Team. The junior finished with 21 points in the UNCC game and 10 points in the Maine game.
UNDEFEATED IN MAINE: Ole Miss remained undefeated in the state of Maine by capturing the Dead River Company Classic. The Lady Rebels also won the Maine Tipoff Classic during the 1992-93 season and now have a 4-0 record in the state.
BETHLEY NETS 12TH CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) notched her 12th career double-double in the game against UNC Charlotte with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She nearly had another double-double on Saturday with 25 points and nine rebounds.
MYATT SCORES CAREER-HIGH: Sophomore guard Becky Myatt scored a career-high 19 points against UNC Charlotte. She was 4-of-8 from the field including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
BOYD NETS CAREER-HIGH: Junior center Frankie Boyd (Ethel, Miss.) scored a career-high 21 points in the win over UNC Charlotte. She has scored in double digits in three games this year.
SCORING SOME POINTS: The Lady Rebels are averaging 76.8 points per game this year, which is 10.9 points more a game this year. Last year, the Lady Rebels averaged 65.9 points per game. Ole Miss has scored 70 or more points in four of their first five games. The Lady Rebels had 70 or more points in only nine games last year.
BETHLEY NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) was named the SEC Player of the Week Monday Nov. 23, for her outstanding performance in leading the Lady Rebels to a 2-1 record the first week. Bethley averaged 16 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists over three games. She became the eighth Lady Rebel to earn SEC Player of the Week honors and the first since Yolanda Moore earned the honor on Dec. 10, 1995.
BETHLEY MOVES UP 1,000 POINT LIST: Senior forward Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) added her name to the list of 1,000 point scorers in Lady Rebel history. With her 20-point performance against Florida Atlantic, Bethley became the 18th Lady Rebel to notch 1,000 points for her career. With her 47 points at the Dead River Company Classic, Bethley now has 1,051 points and passed Carol Ross for 17th on the 1,000 point list. She needs 52 points to move ahead of Kristen Goehring for the 16th spot.
BETHLEY AMONG SCORING AND REBOUNDING LEADERS IN THE SEC: Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) is currently ranked sixth in scoring and tied for ninth in rebounding in the SEC. She is averaging 19 points and 7.6 rebounds a game.
OTHER LADY REBELS IN THE SEC STATS: Sophomore guard Becky Myatt (Bon Aqua, Tenn.) is tied for fifth in free throw percentage at 85.7. She also ranks fifth in three-point field goals made averaging two per game. Sinissia Wysinger (Many, La.) and Frankie Boyd (Ethel, Miss.) are tied for seventh in blocked shots, averaging 1.4 a game. Ole Miss is fourth in the league in blocked shots with an average of 5.4 per game. The Lady Rebels are tied with Auburn and Vanderbilt for the most blocked shots in a game this season with 11 against Memphis.
LADY REBELS HIT THE CENTURY MARK: The Lady Rebels hit the century mark for the second time this season in the win over Florida Atlantic. They also scored 100 points in their first exhibition game against the Slovakian National team.
MORE ON 100 POINTS: Ole Miss 100 points in the win over Florida Atlantic was the most by a Lady Rebel team since the 1994-95 season when they scored 102 in a game against Northeast Louisiana. The Lady Rebels have scored a 100 points 22 times in the 24-year history of the program.
A BALANCED ATTACK: Head coach Ron Aldy said this years team would feature more balance on offense. In the win over Florida Atlantic, 11 players scored a basket with four players in double figures. Only three players were in single digits in minutes played.
DISHING IT OUT: In addition to scoring her 1,000th career point in the win over Florida Atlantic, senior Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) dished out a career-high eight assists. Bethley is averaging a team-leading four assists per game.
CORBITT DOES HER BEST TO ASSIST IN WIN: Fresh-man point guard Takela Corbitt (Bruce, Miss.) dished out a career-best six assists in the win over Florida Atlantic. She is averaging 3.8 assists per game.
ALL OVER THE BOARDS: Junior center Frankie Boyd (Ethel, Miss.) grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the win over Florida Atlantic. Boyd is averaging 6.2 rebounds a game.
CORBITT DRAWS FIRST START: You knew it was only a matter of time before freshman standout point guard Takela Corbitt (Bruce, Miss.) would start in a Lady Rebel game. That time came against Florida Atlantic. Corbitt played 21 minutes and scored six points and dished out six assists She has started every game since, and is averaging 6.2 points and 3.8 assists per game. Corbitt scored nine points, dished out five assists and had three steals in the win over Maine.
NUMBER 21 STEPS UP: Freshman guard TaShondrea Moton, (Prattville, Ala.) scored a career-best 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and had four steals and two assists in 12 minutes against Florida Atlantic.
GET THAT OUTTA HERE!: Ole Miss tied a school record in blocked shots against Memphis with 11 blocked shots. Sinissia Wysinger (Many, La.) had four, Frankie Boyd (Ethel, Miss.) had two, and Jennie Gadd (Yorba Linda, Calif.) had two. Ole Miss also blocked 11 shots against Florida on March 8, 1983, and against Arizona State on Dec. 28, 1992.
OH NO YOU DONT: Junior forward Sinissia Wysinger (Many, La.) made sure the Lady Rebels got the win against Memphis, blocking Tiffany Collins shot with 1.4 seconds left to seal a 70-68 win for the Lady Rebels. Wysinger had a career-high four blocked shots in the game.
MAKING THE MOST OF HER TIME: Senior center Jennie Gadd (Yorba Linda, Calif.) would like nothing better than to close her career in style and she is already making that happen. In 13.4 minutes per game, Gadd is averaging five points and 3.2 rebounds. Against Memphis, Gadd had seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 18 minutes. In the Maine game, Gadd scored six points and pulled down four rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
IMPRESSIVE OUTSIDE THE SEC: The Lady Rebels have compiled an impressive record outside the Southeastern Conference in regular-season play in the decade of the 90s. Ole Miss has a 107-24 record (.817 winning percentage) versus non-SEC teams since the 1990-91 season. The Lady Rebels best non-conference record came during the 1991-92 SEC Championship season, compiling a 15-1 mark versus non-conference foes. The Lady Rebels have an overall 66-24 record (.733 winning percentage) versus non-conference opponents on this years schedule.
54 AND COUNTING: Senior Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) has started 54 consecutive games dating back to the 1996-97 season. She has started 61 games overall in her career.
WHEW! WHAT A SCHEDULE: As if the SEC schedule isnt tough enough, the Lady Rebels non-conference schedule is one of the toughest in the history of the program. The Lady Rebels have already faced Clemson, who cracked the Top 25 poll, and Memphis. This past weekend Ole Miss won the Maine Black Bear Tournament and later this month the Lady Rebels will travel to Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Classic.
125 AND COUNTING: The streak keeps on going and going, as the Lady Rebels have now hit a three-pointer in 125 consecutive games. The record dates back to the 1993-94 campaign. The last time that the Lady Rebels did not hit a three-pointer in a game was on Feb. 23, 1994, in a 73-64 win over Mississippi State in Starkville. In that game against the Lady Bulldogs, Ole Miss went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc. The current 125-game streak bested the previous record of 84 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer. The previous record of 84 consecutive games with a three-pointer began on Jan. 17, 1990, in a 62-44 win over Southern University (1-for-6) and was broken on Dec. 28, 1992, in a 72-71 victory over Arizona State (0-for-5) in the first round of the Rev. Joseph T. Cahill, C.M. Invitational. Ole Miss shot 33.2 percent (171-515) from beyond the arc.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: The Lady Rebels will appear on television once this season. Ole Miss will be on TV Sunday Jan. 10 as they host Kentucky in the FOX SportsSouth game of the week.
SEC GOES TO THURSDAY/SUNDAY FORMAT: The SEC experimented last year by adding two additional league games to the schedule to increase the games to 14. This year the SEC is experimenting with a Thursday/Sunday format for all league games.
ONCE IS ENOUGH: Last year, the Southeastern Conference added two contests to the schedule to increase the league games to 14. The Lady Rebels will play all conference teams once and will get the honor of playing three-time defending NCAA Champion Tennessee twice as well as Auburn and Mississippi State.
APPROACHING THE CENTURY MARK: The Lady Rebels are approaching 100 and its a good thing. Ole Miss now has 95 SEC wins and needs only five more to reach the 100-victory plateau. Tennessee (133), Georgia (112) and Auburn (100) are the only three SEC schools which have won 100 conference games.
TRAVELING ACROSS THE USA: In 24 years, the Ole Miss Lady Rebel basketball program has been one of the most well-traveled teams in the nation. With their trip to Alaska last year, the Lady Rebels have visited 29 states in their history. This year the Lady Rebels travels have taken them to Orono, Maine and later on they will visit the state of Maryland for the Navy Classic.
OLE MISS DEFEATS MAINE TO CAPTURE DEAD RIVER COMPANY CLASSIC: Senior forward Tarsha Bethley (Hollandale, Miss.) scored 22 of her 25 points in the final four minutes of regulation and in the overtime as Ole Miss rallied from a 12-point deficit (55-43) with five minutes remaining to defeat the University of Maine 77-72 to capture the Dead River Company Classic in front of 3,266. Bethley was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Ole Miss won its 33rd regular season tournament title. Frankie Boyd (Ethel, Miss.), also named to the All-Tournament team, finished with 10 points, while freshman Takela Corbitt (Bruce, Miss.) added nine. Bethley nearly had her second straight double-double with nine rebounds. She also dished out five assists. For Maine, Jamie Cassidy led all scorers on the night with 38 points including 14-of-22 from the floor and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line.
She had a double-double with 10 rebounds to lead the Black Bears. Martina Tinklova chipped in 11 points. Ole Miss jumped out to a 21-8 lead with 8:24 in the first half on a Heather Bantz three-pointer. Maine would come back to take a 22-21 lead into halftime. In the second half, the game stayed close until the Black Bears Lopez hit a three-pointer and two consecutive layups by Tinklova and Cassidy gave Maine a nine point lead with 8:05 left in the game. Kristen McCormick gave Maine its largest lead of the night (12) with 5:17 remaining as she nailed what looked to be a huge three-pointer.
The Lady Rebels, on two jumpers by Bethley and a three-pointer by Heather Bantz, cut the lead to seven with 3:04 to go. Bethley sank a three-pointer, a jumper, two free throws and then stole the ball and made a layup with 37 seconds remaining to tie the game. Tinklova made a layup to put Maine up by two with 27 seconds left, and then Bethley sent the game into overtime, hitting a jumper with four seconds left. In the overtime, the Lady Rebels took control. In the first game of the tournament Ole Miss defeated UNC Charlotte 83-77.
REBEL RAMBLINGS: Ole Miss was picked to finish ninth in the SEC presea]son poll voted on by the media. Tennessee was a unanimous pick to win their eighth overall SEC womens title this year, followed by Georgia, Alabama, Florida Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Kentucky. The Lady Rebels will play eight teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Lady Rebels are now 48-15 (.762 winning percentage) in the month of November in the history of the program. They went 4-1 this year in November. In the month of December, the Lady Rebels are an impressive 152-35 (.813 winning percentage). The Lady Rebels have gone undefeated in the month of December seven times.
HEAD COACH RON ALDY: Ron Aldy is in his second season as the head coach of the Lady Rebel basketball program. In his first season, Aldy had the difficult task of maintaining a winning program with a young and inexperienced team. Only two players returned with any significant playing time from the previous season, and the remainder of the roster consisted mostly of freshmen and sophomores. The team battled hard through inexperience and adversity, and by the end of the year, Aldys plan had begun to take shape. The Lady Rebels won three of their last five, including a win over Final Four participant Arkansas and an upset victory over Georgia in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Prior to coming to Ole Miss, Aldy spent five seasons as the Associate Head Coach at Florida. During his five seasons (1992-97) at Florida, Aldy helped guide the Lady Gators to a 110-44 record and five NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1997.
LADY REBEL 1,000 POINT SCORERS
Peggie Gillom 1976-80 2,486Jennifer Gillom 1982-86 2,186Eugenia Conner 1981-85 1,993Clara Jackson 1990-94 1,919Cynthia Autry 1985-89 1,490Alisa Scott 1983-87 1,488Yolanda Moore 1992-96 1,485Kimsey ONeal 1986-90 1,480Sheila Sullivan 1974-77 1,475Glenda Springfield 1975-79 1,432Jackie Martin 1987-92 1,395Marilyn Brooks 1981-85 1,308Charlotte Banks 1989-92 1,182Kris Stratton 1978-81 1,164Regan Seybert 1993-97 1,126Kristen Goehring 1989-93 1,102Tarsha Bethley 1994-present 1,051Carol Ross 1977-81 1,015
UP NEXT
SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
- Date: Saturday, December 5
- Time: 7:00 p.m.
- Site: Tad Smith Coliseum, Oxford, Miss.
EARLY SIGNEES
Name Pos. Ht. Hometown/High SchoolShayla Day C 6-3 New Madrid, Mo./New MadridKayla Madewell F 6-1 Farmington, Ark./FarmingtonLeah Henley G/F 5-9 Warren, Ark./Warren
OLE MISS RECORD WHEN:
Playing on Monday 0-1Playing on Tuesday 0-0Playing on Wednesday 0-0Playing on Thursday 1-0Playing on Friday 1-0Playing on Saturday 1-0Playing on Sunday 1-0Leading at halftime 3-0Trailing at halftime 1-1Scoring 70 or more points 4-0Scoring 60 or more points 4-0Scoring less than 60 points 0-1Outrebounding opponents 2-0Attempting more than 10 free throws 4-1Attempting less than 10 free throws 0-0Recording 15 or more assists 3-0Recording less than 15 assists 1-1Hitting four or more three-pointers 4-1Hitting less than four three-pointers 0-0On television 0-0Playing at night 3-1Playing in the day 1-0
Phylesha Whaley scored 15 of her 26 points in the second half to lead Oklahoma to a 89-85 win over Ole Miss in Lloyd-Noble Center in Norman, Okla. Sophomore Tiffany Adkins scored 19 points and freshman Chandra Dorsey ignited for a career-high 19 in the loss. Tarsha Bethley led Ole Miss on the boards with nine rebounds. Ole Miss took a 40-35 lead into halftime after leading by as much as 17 points in the first half. But the Sooners went on a 13-2 run at the beginning of the second frame to take a 48-42 lead at the 15:23 mark and would never trail again. Ole Miss would cut it to one point several different times, including a run that would erase an eight-point deficit with 6:18 remaining in the game. Ole Miss had a chance to take the lead, but two missed free throws followed by a Whaley layup gave Oklahoma a three-point cushion as it held onto the lead.
Boxscore: Ole Miss 85, Oklahoma 89
Ole Miss FG 3pt FT Reb PtsBecky Myatt 3-9 0-6 5-7 8 11Tarsha Bethley 3-13 1-3 0-0 9 7Julianne Signaigo 3-6 0-0 2-2 3 8Stephanie Murphy 4-8 0-0 3-7 2 11Chandra Dorsey 8-15 0-0 3-5 2 19Heather Bantz 1-3 0-0 1-2 1 3Tiffany Adkins 5-12 0-0 9-9 4 19Jennie Gadd 0-1 0-0 0-0 5 0Lesli Vollrath 3-5 0-0 1-1 5 7Totals 30-72 1-9 24-33 42 85
Oklahoma FG 3pt FT Reb PtsRoxanne Long 3-11 1-6 4-4 3 11Phylesha Whaley 8-13 1-1 9-11 8 26Jaimie Anderson 4-7 0-1 3-6 8 11Shonka Breedlove 4-5 1-1 0-3 5 9Michele Workman 2-9 0-3 3-4 4 7Desiree Taylor 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0Shontell Brown 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0Miranda Stacy 0-1 0-0 0-0 3 0Sunny Hardeman 7-10 5-8 0-1 1 19Kelley Workman 2-3 0-0 2-2 0 6Totals 30-59 8-20 21-31 43 89
