The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Women's Basketball Set To Play UAPB Tonight
11/21/2006 | Women's Basketball
Today's Game
Ole Miss will play its second-consecutive home game when it plays host to the Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff ... Ole Miss is 2-0 all-time versus UAPB ... The game versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff is the fourth game in eight days for the Rebels ... Ole Miss is 3-1 to open the season for the third time in four seasons under head coach Carol Ross ... Ole Miss is 57-6 all-time versus schools from the Southwestern Athletic Conference ... Ole Miss will depart Wednesday morning for the Bahamas where they will take part in the 2006 Junkanoo Jam ... The Rebels will take on Northwestern in the first round of play with Gardner-Webb and defending National Champions Maryland on the other side of the draw.
About Ole Miss
The Rebels rebounded from their first loss of the season to pound Rhode Island, 94-49, on Sunday afternoon ... All 13 available players played in the game, with 12 scoring ... Senior guard Armintie Price led the charge with 18 points in 21 minutes ... Price also dished four assists, grabbed six rebounds and picked up one steal ... Freshman guard Alliesha Easley posted her second-straight double figure scoring effort with 13 points ... Easley made 2-of-3 shots from beyond the arc and also pulled down five rebounds ... Three Rebels finished the game with nine points, including junior forward Danetra Forrest, sophomore center Shawn Goff and freshman center Daphnee Frieson ... Ole Miss out-rebounded its opponent for the third time in four games this season, posting 51 caroms to Rhode Island's 23.
Scouting Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Arkansas Pine-Bluff enters tonight's contest with an 0-3 record after falling on the road at Michigan and Cincinnati and at home to Indiana State.
The Golden Lions are coached by Danny Evans, who has posted a record of 7-24 in his second season with the program. His overall coaching mark this the same.
UAPB returns three starters from last season's 7-21 team, led by sophomore guard Arica Green who averaged 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a freshman. Senior forward Latoya Thomas also returns 10.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game to the Golden Lion line-up. The third returning starter is junior guard Kim Reeves with 4.3 points and 2.7 boards per game.
The Series
Today's game will be the third meeting between the two schools dating back to the 2003-04 season. Ole Miss head coach Carol Ross is 2-0 versus the Golden Lions, with both wins coming during her Ole Miss tenure. The following is the game-by-game results between Ole Miss and UAPB:
Date Site Result
1-5-04 Oxford Ole Miss, 112-43
12-14-04 Oxford Ole Miss, 89-41
Ole Miss vs. The SWAC
Ole Miss is 57-6 (.905 winning percentage) versus schools currently in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, including two wins over UAPB. Ole Miss head coach Carol Ross is 6-0 (1.000 winning percentage) against schools from the SWAC, including a 2-0 mark against the Golden Lions. The following is a list of schools from the league that Ole Miss has played and its record against those schools.
Team Record
Alcorn State 13-1
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2-0
Grambling 5-0
Jackson State 20-3
Mississippi Valley State 10-2
Prairie View A&M 1-0
Southern 6-0
Total 57-6
Ole Miss-UAPB Ties
While there are not any players on the Ole Miss roster from the state of Arkansas, the Golden Lions have one player from the state of Mississippi playing for them in junior guard Kim Reeves of Yazoo City.
Impressive Outside The SEC
The Rebels have compiled an impressive record outside the Southeastern Conference in regular-season play. Ole Miss owns a 184-47 record (.797 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 1,580 points, 913 rebounds, 283 steals and 268 assists through her first 95 games. If she makes the club, she will join Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Sophia Young.
Putting Up The Points
The Rebels have been scoring at an alarming pace as they are averaging 94.0 points per game through the first four games of the season. Ole Miss has yet to top the century mark in the four games, but has managed to score 91 or more points in all four, including a 99-point performance at UAB. Four players are averaging double figures with senior guard Armintie Price leading the way with 21.3 points per game. She is joined by senior guard Ashley Awkward with 12.3 points, sophomore center Shawn Goff with 11.8 and freshman guard Alliesha Easley with 11.0 points per outing. The Rebel bench is chipping in 41.9 points per game to help the effort.
Easley Heats Up
Ole Miss freshman guard Alliesha Easley has turned her game up a notch over the last two games. Easley, who has started all four contests for the Rebels, turned in a career-best 24 points in Ole Miss' double-overtime loss at Rice. She then followed that up with a 13-point performance in the Rebels 94-49 win over Rhode Island two days later. With her latest scoring explosion, Easley has upped her season average to 11.0 points per game. She is now the fourth Rebel to average double-figures on the season.
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.
Goff Fills It Up
Rebel sophomore center Shawn Goff came off the bench to post 18 points and 19 rebounds in Ole Miss' double overtime loss to Rice. Goff, who played a career-best 41 minutes, posted 13 of her rebounds and 12 of her points in the second half and overtime periods. She was instrumental in helping the Rebels erase a 12-point second half deficit and force the Owls into the exteded periods of play. She also finished with three steals, two assists and a block in the game.
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
Despite a slow start, Ole Miss eventually out-rebounded Rice 62-58 in their double-overtime loss to the Owls. The 62 rebounds were the most collected by an Ole Miss team since they pulled down 69 versus Grambling State on Dec. 16, 2004. Two Rebels have posted double figures in rebounds this season with sophomore Shawn Goff picking up a career-best 19 versus Rice and 12 in the opener versus Southeastern Louisiana. Junior Danetra Forrest tallied 13 at UAB. Ole Miss is averaging 53.0 rebounds per game through four 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.
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.
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 four games the Rebels have picked up 57 steals with 12 players recording at least one steal. Senior Ashley Awkward leads the charge with 13 steals, and tied a career-high six at UAB. Senior Armintie Price has tallied 11, while sophomore Shawn Goff and freshman Alliesha Easley have each tallied seven and five steals, respectively.
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
Ole Miss will head to Freeport, Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam. The Rebels will face Northwestern in the first round, with Gardner-Webb and defending National Champions Maryland on the other side of the draw.
