The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Travel To Houston To Take On Rice
11/16/2006 | Women's Basketball
Today's Game
Ole Miss will continue on the road as they travel to Houston, Texas to take on the Rice Owls ... Ole Miss is 3-0 versus the Owls in the all-time series, including last year's 110-63 victory ... The Rebels are 15-24 in road games under head coach Carol Ross ... The Rebels are averaging 95.5 points per outing after the first two games ... Ole Miss coaches and staff will dine with former Rebel coach Van Chancellor and his wife Betty on Thursday evening ... Rebel senior guard Armintie Price went over the 900 mark in career rebounds in Tuesday's win over UAB ... She now has 903 caroms in her career.
About Ole Miss
The Rebels picked up their second-consecutive win of the 2006-07 season with a 99-85 victory at UAB. Senior guards Armintie Price and Ashley Awkward had career nights in the win with Price tallying 34 points and Awkward adding 23. Price connected on 16-of-21 from the foul line, while Awkward dished five assists and grabbed six steals, all career highs. Junior forward Danetra Forrest became the second Rebel to post a double-double on the season with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore center Shawn Goff tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds in Ole Miss' win over Southeastern Louisiana. Junior guard-forward Carla Bartee tallied six points and six rebounds off the bench, while senior foward Jada Mincy dropped in seven points to go along with four rebounds.
Scouting Rice
The Owls have posted back-to-back wins to open the 2006-07 season with victories over Monmouth (76-45) and Rider (92-57).
The Owls return 83 percent of their scoring and 84 percent of their rebounding from last season's WNIT squad. Rice won 12 of its last 15 games last season and is a preseason favorite to win the Conference USA title this season.
Senior forward Lauren Neaves leads the way in both scoring and rebounding. Neaves is averaging 18.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in the Owls' first two games this year. Sophomore guard Maudess Fulton is chipping in 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and junior guard Kadie Riverin has added 10.5 points and 5.5 assists per game.
The Owls have dominated the boards in their first two outings, outrebounding their opponents by an average of 13 rebounds per contest. They have also been impressive with their field goal shooting, connecting on 58-of-114 shots, good for 50.9 percent.
The Series
Today's game will be the fourth meeting between Ole Miss and Rice, with the Rebels leading the series 3-0. The first meeting between the two schools was on Jan. 8, 1997 with Ole Miss taking a 73-67 decision. The game was one of 16 wins for Ole Miss in what was then head coach Van Chancellor's final season. Ole Miss defeated the Owls in both team's season opener last year 110-63 in Oxford. The following is the series history:
Date Site Result
1-8-97 Houston Ole Miss, 73-67
12-29-97 Oxford Ole Miss, 67-65
11-18-05 Oxford Ole Miss, 110-63
Ole Miss vs. Conference USA
Ole Miss is 63-22 (.741 winning percentage) versus schools currently in Conference USA, including a 3-0 mark against Rice. Ole Miss head coach Carol Ross is 18-6 (.750 winning percentage) against schools from Conference USA, including a 2-0 mark against the Owls. The following is a list of schools from the league that Ole Miss has played and its record against those schools.
Team Record
UAB 7-3
Central Florida 3-0
Houston 1-0
Marshall 2-0
Memphis 30-12
Rice 3-0
SMU 0-1
Southern Miss 16-4
Tulane 1-2
Total 63-22
Ole Miss-Rice Ties
There are not any players on the Ole Miss roster this season who hail from Texas. Likewise, Rice's roster does not feature any players from the Magnolia state. Former Ole Miss head coach Van Chancellor left the Rebels to take the head coaching position with the WNBA's Houston Comets following the 1996-97 season. In 10 seasons with the Comets, Chancellor has collected a 213-116 (.647 winning percentage) overall mark. He led the Comets to the first four WNBA titles and was recently named the WNBA Coach of the Decade.
Impressive Outside The SEC
The Rebels have compiled an impressive record outside the Southeastern Conference in regular-season play. Ole Miss owns a 183-46 record (.799 winning percentage) versus non-conference opponents since 1990. The Rebels' best non-conference record during that time came during the 1991-92 SEC Championship season, as they compiled a 15-1 mark versus non-conference foes. Ole Miss posted a 10-3 record against non-conference opponents during the 2005-06 regular season.
Mint Condition
Ole Miss senior guard Armintie Price is on pace to become just the fifth player in NCAA history to post 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 steals and 300 assists in a career. Price enters the today's game with 1,553 points, 903 rebounds, 276 steals and 260 assists through her first 93 games. If she makes the club, she will join Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Sophia Young.
Three-Peat
During the 2005-06 season, the Rebels made their third-straight postseason appearance. The Rebels advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2005 and participated in the WNIT in 2006. Ole Miss is tied for 17th in the country in NCAA Tournament appearances with 16 and picked up its first postseason win under head coach Carol Ross with a 78-76 win over Kansas in the first round of the 2006 WNIT.
Price On Watch Lists
Ole Miss senior guard Armintie Price is being recognized by nearly all of the national awards as they open their watch lists for the 2006-07 season. Price has been named to the Wade Watch as well as the Wooden Award Preseason list. The 5-9 guard was recently recognized by ESPN.com as one of the top five two guards in the NCAA and was selected by GBallMag.com as a preseason Second Team All-America. Price was unanimously voted to the preseason First Team All-SEC by the league coaches and was also selected for the same team a panel of media at the 2006 SEC Media Days. She was also honored as a preseason All-America and First Team All-SEC by Basketball Times.
Double Dee
Ole Miss junior forward Danetra Forrest was instrumental in Ole Miss' victory over UAB, recording her third career double-double with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Forrest scored 10 of her points in the second period helping gain the Rebels some much needed breathing room down the stretch of their win over the Blazers. She helped keep Ole Miss in the game in the first period with nine of her 13 boards coming in the first frame.
Easley Gets The Nod
Ole Miss freshman guard Alliesha Easley got her named called among the starters in the Rebels' season opener versus Southeastern Louisiana. Easley became the first Ole Miss true freshman to start a season opener since Armintie Price began the game in the line-up in the 2003-04 season-opener. Easley and Price are the only two freshmen to start at Ole Miss under head coach Carol Ross.
Rebounding Rebels
The Rebels were dominant on the glass in the season-opening win over Southeastern Louisiana collecting 59 caroms to just 31 for the Lady Lions. The 59 rebounds were the most collected by an Ole Miss team since they pulled down 60 versus Brown on Nov. 26, 2005. Two Rebels recorded double digits in rebounds in the game in sophomore Shawn Goff with 12 and senior Jada Mincy with 11, while senior Armintie Price added eight. Junior Danetra Forrest led Ole Miss on the boards at UAB with 13. Ole Miss is averaging 49.5 rebounds per game through two games.
SEC Showing Power Early
The SEC boasts three of the top 10 teams in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll released on Nov. 6. The league boasts No. 4 Tennessee, No. 8 Georgia and No. 9 LSU. Vanderbilt (15) and Kentucky (24) are the other SEC team currently ranked, with Ole Miss, South Carolina and Florida each receiving votes. Other teams on the Rebel 2006-07 schedule in the rankings include: Maryland (1) and Rutgers (13), while Rice and Penn State are also receiving votes.
Fab Five
Five fabolous freshmen joined the Rebel program for the 2006-07 season, with each having gained championship experience at the high school level before heading off to Ole Miss. Shantell Black (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Alliesha Easley (Cordova, Tenn.), Daphnee Frieson (Mobile, Ala.), Elizabeth Robertson (Vestavia, Ala.) and Bianca Thomas (Henderson, Tenn.) each joined the Rebels in July and are prepared to make an impact as Ole Miss makes a run at its fourth-straight postseason appearance.
Masters of Thievery
In Ole Miss' first two wins the Rebels have picked up 28 steals with 11 players recording at least one steal. Senior Ashley Awkward leads the charge with 11 steals, and tied a career-high six at UAB. Senior Armintie Price has tallied four, and senior Jada Mincy three. Junior Danetra Forrest and sophomore Shawn Goff have each tallied two steals.
Price Featured On ESPN.com
Ole Miss senior guard Armintie Price is currently featured on www.ESPN.com on the women's college basketball page. Price is listed as one of the top five two-guards in the NCAA as noted by the website's women's college basketball analysts.
Mechelle Voepel, Nancy Lieberman, Beth Mowins and Melanie Jackson compiled a list of the top five players at each position, ranking Price the top player at the two-guard spot. She is joined on the list by junior Matee Ajavon (Rutgers), junior Candice Wiggins (Stanford), senior Shay Doron (Maryland) and senior Cori Chambers (Georgia).
Rebel Guards Preview
Senior Ashley Awkward is back to guide the team as the veteran of a deep group of point guards. The Memphis native started 25 games as a junior turning in a career-best 9.7 points per outing, while also collecting 85 assists and 37 steals on the season.
Awkward will be joined at the point position by junior Tasi Worsham and freshman Shantell Black. With Worsham you get a powerful point guard, one who is physical and aggressive in taking the ball to the basket. Black is more of a water bug' point guard who arrives at Ole Miss from the highly touted Collins Hill High School out of Georgia.
A good battle is brewing for playing time at the two-guard position where incoming freshmen Alliesha Easley and Bianca Thomas will vie for playing time with returning juniors Carla Bartee and Lindsay Roy.
While Easley is quick and explosive with the ball in her hands, Thomas arrives at Ole Miss with the reputation of being a big-time' scorer.
Bartee showed signs of being able to pour in the points in her inaugural season with the Rebels after transferring from Western Kentucky. The 6-1 guard-forward averaged 9.6 points per game last season as Ole Miss' sixth woman. While mostly playing in the power forward position as a sophomore, Bartee connected on 51 three-point baskets and also pulled down 3.6 boards per game.
Roy is another player who can shoot the ball, but along with Bartee, Ross is looking for improvements from her in other aspects of her game.
There will be no competition for the three-guard position as the Preseason All-American Armintie Price has it wrapped up. The Wade Trophy Player of the Year candidate led Ole Miss in scoring (17.7), rebounding (9.6), steals (3.4) and assists (3.4) as a junior, one of only three players in the NCAA to lead her team in those four categories. Price is currently on pace to become just the fifth player in NCAA history to record over 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 steals and 300 assists in a career.
Freshman Elizabeth Robertson will be asked to provide some depth behind Price. Robertson, a 5-10 guard out of Alabama, is a good outside shooter who can spread the defense with her ability to hit the long- range jumper. Rebounding will be the key to Robertson getting minutes behind Price according to Ross.
Rebel Forwards Preview
Senior Jada Mincy will team with junior Danetra (Dee) Forrest to provide a hard-nosed one-two punch at the power forward position.
While Mincy has a stronger face-up game and can hit the mid-range jumper, Forrest is a little more physical down inside to provide a perfect skill set to keep opponents on their toes.
Rebel Centers Preview
The center position is another position that is the deepest in Ross' tenure with the Rebels. Sophomore Shawn Goff came on strong late in her freshman season to provide an inside presence. Goff started the final six games of the 2005-06 season and averaged 7.0 points and 9.0 boards per game in the WNIT.
Ross felt like the Rebels were lacking in height down low so the coaching staff made a concerted effort to get bigger. In doing so they brought in highly touted 6-foot-5 Daphnee Frieson out of Mobile, Ala.
Joining Goff and Frieson in the middle will be sophomore Brandi Tipton. A skilled player with the ball in her hands, Ross likes the versatility Tipton provides in the post.
Up Next
Following the game at Rice, Ole Miss will return to Oxford to play host to Rhode Island on Sun., Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. in Tad Smith Coliseum. The Rebels will then host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tues., Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. before heading to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam.
