The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Women's Basketball Releases 2005-06 Schedule
8/30/2005 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 30, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - A slate featuring eight NCAA Tournament teams, highlighted by Final Four participants LSU and Tennessee, lies ahead for the 2005-06 edition of the Ole Miss Women's Basketball program as third-year head coach Carol Ross continues to put together one of the toughest schedules in the country.
"In putting together our schedule each year, the idea is to be challenged at home and on the road to prepare for the rigors of Southeastern Conference play and postseason basketball," said Ross, who has guided Ole Miss to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. "We strive to get our team in to different venues and to compete against diverse and challenging styles of play in the pre-conference season, which should make us a more exposed and experienced team come January, February and March. That is the purpose of creating a tough schedule."
Ole Miss will get to see just that as they will tip-off the season playing host to Rice on Friday, Nov. 18. The Lady Rebels will take on the Owls, a 2005 NCAA Tournament participant, the night before the Ole Miss-LSU football game.
A trip to Clemson (Nov. 21) is next on the calendar for Ole Miss followed by a home match-up against highly-touted Texas Tech (Nov. 23), who advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2005.
Ole Miss will travel to Kingston, R.I. for the University of Rhode Island Classic (Nov. 25-26) where they will take on Villanova in the first round of action. The Lady Rebels and Wildcats squared-off in the 2004 NCAA Tournament First Round, with Villanova pulling out a 66-63 win. Brown and host Rhode Island round out the tournament field.
The third annual "School Day" game will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 30 with Ole Miss playing host to Tennessee State. The game will tip-off at 11 a.m., to accommodate the children attending the game as a school field trip.
Ole Miss will take on Alabama-Birmingham (Dec. 3) in the friendly confines of Tad Smith Coliseum before taking a break in the action as they prepare for fall semester final exams. Upon completing their finals, Ole Miss will welcome Rutgers (Dec. 14) to Oxford. Led by All-American guard Cappie Pondexter, the Scarlet Knights advanced to the Elite Eight of last year's NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Rebels will travel up Interstate 55 to take on Memphis (Dec. 16), return to host Nicholls State (Dec. 18) and then head south to take on traditional power Louisiana Tech (Dec. 20) in Ruston, La.
Ole Miss will head home for the holidays after playing the Lady Techsters, where they will then close out the non-conference portion of the schedule with a trip to Miami for the Hurricane Holiday Tournament (Dec. 28-29). Ole Miss will take on WNIT participant Maine in the first round of action and North Carolina A&T and the host Hurricanes round out the field.
Ole Miss will open Southeastern Conference action playing four of the first five games at home. Ole Miss will kick-off the league slate with back-to-back games against both sets of SEC Bulldogs. Ole Miss will host Georgia (Jan. 5), followed by the first of two games against Mississippi State (Jan. 8). Ole Miss will travel to Auburn (Jan. 15) before heading back to Oxford to take on Florida (Jan. 19) and Kentucky (Jan. 22).
Ole Miss will then hit the road, making trips to Mississippi State (Jan. 26) and 2005 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Vanderbilt (Jan. 29), before returning to Tad Smith Coliseum to host 2005 Final Four participant Tennessee (Feb. 2). Ole Miss will then go back to the road to challenge defending SEC Champions and Final Four team LSU (Feb. 5) and then on to Alabama (Feb. 8).
The second match-up of the season with Auburn (Feb. 12) will be played in Oxford, and then Ole Miss will again travel for back-to-back games at Kentucky (Feb. 16) and South Carolina (Feb. 19).
Ole Miss will honor its three seniors Ellen Buchanan, Ashley Johnson and LaTanya Jones in the season finale against Arkansas (Feb. 26), prior to heading to the 2006 SEC Tournament, which is being held in North Little Rock, Ark., March 2-5.
Ross credits Associate Head Coach Peggie Gillom-Granderson with putting together a schedule that is not only going to be helpful in the development of the team, but also one the Ole Miss fans can enjoy.
"I am extremely pleased with what Peggie was able to do with our home schedule," said Ross, who owns a 283-146 overall coaching mark in 14 seasons. "Our fans will be treated to some outstanding. There is not a more entertaining home schedule out there."
The Ole Miss women will begin official practice for the 2005-06 season on Oct 15. They will take on Athletes in Action on Nov. 10 for the first and only exhibition contest of the season. Game time for the exhibition is set for 7 p.m.
